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First Steps in EVE Online: Finding a Purpose

Deciding on your ambitions and style of play is critical to your enjoyment. You get out what you put in.
This article is over 11 years old and may contain outdated information

Before you even log in, give some thought to what part you would like to play in the sandbox of New Eden. Use your imagination; this doesn’t have to be exact or even immediately achievable, but it will help shape your game experience.

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Player Empowerment

EVE Online is not an on-rails kind of game and whilst it provides the tools to interact with the universe and its inhabitants, it doesn’t tell you how you should – that’s your call.

Your idea might even inspire others – that’s how things work in EVE Online. EVE’s history is littered with examples; there was a time early in EVE’s life when multiple player-run corporations (EVE’s guilds) formed out-of-game agreements to work together to take and hold territory. Eventually, CCP responded to this player activity by introducing a game mechanic enabling the formation of alliances. More recently, the overnight success of a newly-formed rookie corporation saw it become “one of the largest corporations in EVE Online”.

Evolve with the Universe

Emergent gameplay isn’t just an empty marketing phrase for CCP, it is a core aspect of their relationship with their customers and a key part of the EVE player’s experience. In the last couple of years, CCP staff have been actively seeking input from the player base for “little things” to improve and some developers are known to trawl the forums for possible new feature ideas.

EVE has grown with and around its players. It is something worth keeping in mind, always.

EVE Online is full of experiences to be had, both good and bad, and it is okay to take your time. There are many, many ways to play EVE from being a passive contributor to the economy, an active and frequent combat pilot to a heavily-invested community leader. One of the best available resources to guide you in deciding is this fantastic interactive flowchart detailing every possible career avenue:

[Click here for the fullscreen interactive site]

Next: The EVE Philosophy

 

First Steps in EVE Online Series Contents

 


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Author
Image of Mat Westhorpe
Mat Westhorpe
Broken paramedic and coffee-drinking Englishman whose favourite dumb animal is an oxymoron. After over a decade of humping and dumping the fat and the dead, my lower spine did things normally reserved for Rubik's cubes, bringing my career as a medical clinician to an unexpectedly early end. Fortunately, my real passion is in writing and given that I'm now highly qualified in the art of sitting down, I have the time to pursue it. Having blogged about video games (well, mostly EVE Online) for years, I hope to channel my enjoyment of wordcraft and my hobby of gaming into one handy new career that doesn't involve other people's vomit.