EVE Online

Well, since the server is down today, and we seem to be getting an unusual amount of "I need XXX SPs to compete!" threads lately, I figured I'd post up a thread on what is quite possibly the most important thing you need to be successful in Eve - the proper mindset.  The mindset is crucial because Eve isn't like most other MMOs where the game will hand you some measure of success by virtue of you paying a sub fee.  Your sub in Eve gets you access - everything else you have to earn.

So, without futher ado..

1. Be aggressive.  While this is obvious for pvp-oriented characters, it's still essential for everyone else - Eve's biggest carebears can be and are the most cut-throat businessmen you'll ever meet outside of RL.  If you do not aggressivly defend your interests, whatever they are, people can and will walk all over you.
2. Be optomistic.  If you think you can't do something, you'll never be able to do it no matter how much money or how many skills you have.  If you go out and try anyway, you'll usually be surprised at how well you can do, even if your skills aren't that great and you don't have loads of money.  And you'll find the experience you gain from trying will serve you far better than months of skill training and said piles of ISK anyway.
3. Be patient.  Everything that really counts in Eve - skills, politics, trade, manufacturing, strategy, etc - takes place in real time.  You can not powergame / powergrind your way to the top.  A person who plays wisely will advance much faster and much further than a person who simply plays a lot but does nothing but grind and/or burns all his bridges.
4. Learn to deal with other people.  Eve can not be played solo - even if you choose to go it alone dealings with other people simply can not be avoided and will hugely impact your gameplay.
5. Always have a backup plan.  Things can and will go horribly, horribly wrong, and having a prepared plan to deal with that in advance is the difference between someone who loses their shirt in a single moment of bad judgement and a person who shrugs it off when they step out of the clone vat and keeps going.
6. In relation to #5, always be thinking of how you would counter / scam / bait / whatever yourself, and plan accordingly.  You will always be opposed no matter what you're doing, try to see things from the enemy point of view, and you'll find yourself much more able to deal with the majority of common problems people have, especially in highsec.

Well, I think this about covers the basics, though I'm sure people will add more.  

Fly safe!

Originally posted by x_rast_x

Well, since the server is down today, and we seem to be getting an unusual amount of "I need XXX SPs to compete!" threads lately, I figured I'd post up a thread on what is quite possibly the most important thing you need to be successful in Eve - the proper mindset.  The mindset is crucial because Eve isn't like most other MMOs where the game will hand you some measure of success by virtue of you paying a sub fee.  Your sub in Eve gets you access - everything else you have to earn.

So, without futher ado..

1. Be aggressive.  While this is obvious for pvp-oriented characters, it's still essential for everyone else - Eve's biggest carebears can be and are the most cut-throat businessmen you'll ever meet outside of RL.  If you do not aggressivly defend your interests, whatever they are, people can and will walk all over you.
2. Be optomistic.  If you think you can't do something, you'll never be able to do it no matter how much money or how many skills you have.  If you go out and try anyway, you'll usually be surprised at how well you can do, even if your skills aren't that great and you don't have loads of money.  And you'll find the experience you gain from trying will serve you far better than months of skill training and said piles of ISK anyway.
3. Be patient.  Everything that really counts in Eve - skills, politics, trade, manufacturing, strategy, etc - takes place in real time.  You can not powergame / powergrind your way to the top.  A person who plays wisely will advance much faster and much further than a person who simply plays a lot but does nothing but grind and/or burns all his bridges.
4. Learn to deal with other people.  Eve can not be played solo - even if you choose to go it alone dealings with other people simply can not be avoided and will hugely impact your gameplay.
5. Always have a backup plan.  Things can and will go horribly, horribly wrong, and having a prepared plan to deal with that in advance is the difference between someone who loses their shirt in a single moment of bad judgement and a person who shrugs it off when they step out of the clone vat and keeps going.
6. In relation to #5, always be thinking of how you would counter / scam / bait / whatever yourself, and plan accordingly.  You will always be opposed no matter what you're doing, try to see things from the enemy point of view, and you'll find yourself much more able to deal with the majority of common problems people have, especially in highsec.

Well, I think this about covers the basics, though I'm sure people will add more.  

Fly safe!

An excellent post and all true.

All true.

SP is not the end all be all of EvE. My original Eve character has more SP than all three of my other accounts combined. One I just started a year or so ago would kick her ass six ways to Sunday.

There is unfortunately a grind in Eve. It's money. ISK. You will run out of it and you will never have enough. Don't waste it. Don't OP your ship and don't put all your eggs in one basket. Either by putting all your wealth in a hauler and flying off to sell it or all your ISK in super pimped out fittings. Assume you will lose it. Assume you will need 'that much' to get back up. Fight to win, play to win but expect to fail.

Everything in Eve belongs to me.

I have spent my life in game getting what is mine.

I know its bad form to reply after ones self, but i cant just leave my post like that without explaining.

People who come to Eve need to look at the big picture about what Eve is, and what Eve is Not.  Eve is not a game that will steer you a safe path to wealth or prosperity.  It will not allow you to make a single mistake without a smack down. It is harsh, cruel, materialistic, and requires the domination of all who stand before you. It is kill or be killed at its very soul.

Everything in Eve...and i mean every single minuscule detail in EVE is pvp.

Mining is pvp - mine faster, better, more efficient and defend your claims.

Industry is pvp - Build quicker, less waste, lower cost materials, kill your enemy in pricing.

Markets are pvp - Buy low, sell high, manipulate the region orders, low margins to drive away competitors.

Corporations management   is pvp  - protecting your assets from outside as well as inside threats.

From the moment you log in, to the moment you log out. In every detail of every single aspect of your game play...Eve is pvp.

Don't play a victim - play to succeed, play to compete, play to win.  That's My EVE.

Originally posted by mmo4life 

Mining is pvp - mine faster, better, more efficient and defend your claims.

Mining is not pvp, since there is a limit on how effective you can be, thus eliminating the versus in it

Industry is pvp - Build quicker, less waste, lower cost materials, kill your enemy in pricing.

there is also a limit on how effective you can be at producing, thus that is not pvp

i would rather say that everything you do in eve, is fueling pvp in one way or the other

I still think everything in Eve is pvp.

What one person might view as peaceful mining in high sec, another group might view as a direct threat to profits.

This is where the conflict explodes into boat violence.

You'll have to explain how something that has a cap to your effectiveness is not pvp. You're not making a lot of sense.

op, didn't you forget "be paranoid"?

Yeah, tell all the people I kicked out of Gisleres and Aidart back in my mining days that mining can't be pvp.

These are (were) MY belts, dammit.

As for being paranoid, no, actually I don't think that's part of the Eve mindset, although a very clear concept of risk management certainly is.  Being overly paranoid will screw you just as bad (though not anywhere near as fast) as being overly trusting.