Pondering my options
14th January 2009 – 10.36 amI've been running a few level three missions in EVE Online, taking my Drake out for some explosive action and coincidentally earning back some of the thirty million ISK I paid for my new chip implants. Despite a slightly shaky return to level three missions my ship can take a whole lot of abuse, both from enemy missiles and my lack of skill.
The missions so far turn out to involve warping in to a cluster of red crosses in a deadspace pocket and blowing them all up, keeping an eye on my shields just in case they fall below 80% and I wonder when I should perhaps start to think about maybe aligning the Drake to a station. It doesn't seem like much of a challenge at the moment, particularly as I hadn't flown a level three mission in a few months.
I consider what options are available to me. I can gain some more faction reputation and ISK to get access to level four mission agents, but I imagine that will present an initial challenge and then settle down to business as usual. I have thought before at turning my hand to manufacturing, which is still a possibility. There is no doubt an awful lot to learn about industry and I hope I wouldn't have to mine too much.
At least the skill training system is keeping my attention and occasionally offering new areas of interest, like exploration and archaeology. I'll investigate my options further and stick to mission running for now. Blowing up spaceships and making a stack of ISK from it still has its appeal.
5 Responses to “Pondering my options”
You don't need to mine to do industry at all. DSTIC hasn't mined a single asteroid since starting in business 6 months ago, and we have a isk turnover of around 50-100mln a week right now. Its also possible to do industry and missions at same time... industry now takes me maybe 1-2 hours a week to keep ticking over.
The trick is planning - we have just brought a load of blueprints that we don't expect to even use for 3 months for example (as they are not profitable unresearched).
Once you have the right tools for the job (Eve MLCalc is the main one we use for working if an item is profitable prior to even buying the BPO).
Don't be scared to move location either, getting faction standing is really quick/easy if you know how...
But really, you probably need to join an industry focussed corporation who can teach you the tricks of the market.... for example sometimes its profitable to just buy things others are making and sell for a higher rate. Sometimes its profitable to just buy items, and recyclle for minerals..
It is definitely a good idea for me to try to join another corporation. I've thought about it but am too nervous to look in to it seriously just yet.
Thanks for the feedback on industry. It is certainly something I am interested in learning more about, even if I am still attracted to the big explosions of stellar combat.
Get out there PJ...play the game..mission running is 1/100th of the game! Sticking to mission running is boring and semi repetative at BEST. Come out to 0.0 join a good Corp or a good alliance! They can do wonders to help! Do not be nervous...just be smart.
Hi p j Harvey,
You are at an important crossroads in Eve: competent enough to fly a Battlecruiser well, newb enough to be unsure of the direction to take next.
As Dark Plasma said, getting into industry is easy and doesn't require any mining at all. Buying minerals on the market and building with them can make you a profit as long as you do the quick research and have Production Efficiency trained up to V and a good BPO. Building and selling ammo like heavy and cruise missiles in mission hubs for example is a good start.
If you like mission running, and many do, consider joining a mission running corporation. A Drake can be a huge help to a battleship running level fours, and you can get experience on what to expect in those missions and how to fit your own first battleship from those more experienced. Level 4s are a magnitude harder than level 3s and take some practice to get good at, as well as good skills.
Or you can go Manasi's route and jump right into PvP. Even a day old character can be useful in PvP and since you have battlecruiser skills you are already nicely primed to be a useful part since I assume you have Frigate skills already :)
Alternatively, if you are not ready for the deep end of the pool consider Eve University or Agony Unleashed as they do PvP training and help transition players from PvE to PvP.
The most important thing, regardless of the path you choose, is that Eve sucks as a single player game unless you are a very unique individual. Don't be afraid to try multiple corps, get in some channels like the Eve Bloggers channel for example, and find a group you feel comfortable flying with and you will see your enjoyment increase. :)
Good luck!
I have plenty to consider and will no doubt write more about it soon. Thanks!