The Most Difficult Decision in Eve Online

If you don’t know anything about Eve Online and looked online you will probably find out that is has a steep learning curve and is not entirely newb friendly. I believe that a large number of new players quit eve too early as it can be difficult to get going.

Over the years it has gotten better and CCP are continually trying to improve the experience for new players.

Even though I’ve played the game on and off since 2009, coming back to the game has got me feeling overwhelmed. There are so many options of things to do and various career paths I can follow that I’m finding it hard to decide.

In the past I’ve had people helping me or something in particular has brought me back like when Brave Newbies formed. However this time I know I want to play the game but i just can’t decide how I want to play.

I’ve thought about solo play as I don’t have time to commit to groups scheduled ops but I think that would bore me too quickly. Even if I did go solo I’m not sure what I would want to do solo.

Looking back on what I’ve already done I am going to rule out null sec. I can see the appeal and I’ve had fun in null sec but there are too many wars, too many deployments and too much waiting around for fleet ops. I’ve also found null activities have been more focused in US timezones.

I can also rule out mission running, mining and manufacturering too as they doesn’t appeal to me. I would like to be able to do PI where ever I am though as that’s easy and fairly passive income.

I’ve had fun in low sec and at one point had -10 sec status but last time I played I got that back up to 0.2 to give me more options in high sec. I won’t rule out low sec piracy though as it is fun. 

I also enjoyed wormhole life even though I was not ready for it at the time as I was severely underskilled. I’m a lot more skilled now (skill point wise not skilled at the game) so I would be able to do a lot more now that I previously could. 

I’ve not tried incursions yet or faction warfare so those are 2 options I could try. Incursions seem expensive to get into but have high rewards and faction warfare seems like cheap pvp so that could be fun.

I think whatever I decide on I would like a small Corp which is mainly UK/EU based where I can play as and when I can. I’m thinking either a wormhole corp or faction warfare. 

If it’s this difficult for me to decide when I’m fairly experienced in the game then it must be very difficult and overwhelming for new players too. At least there are some newb friendly corps out there where new players can learn but it will still be difficult for them to decide which direction to go in.

– Sparko Marco