Is there even a point to playing the game?

New Citizens Q&A
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Hello there!
So a couple of days ago I decided to try EVE Online for the first time. (created the account quite a while back but never actually tried to play the game). So I did the tutorial and chose Enforcer as my carreer path (which I think is PvE combat? The game is really not clear on what the difference between Enforcer and Soldier of Fortune is). The career agent quest chain is actually quite nice and I learned some basic stuff. Then the game just drops you into the universe without any guidance, which is really bad in my opinion. But ok I did some googling and someone said to do the Sisters of EVE epic arc.
So I did that. Which was fine I guess but I never felt like I did anything meaningful besides wasting time. Up until the end where you get 2 quests to kill a specific “Boss” enemy (forgot their names). Those were interesting as they forced me to actually think and prepare. Now I again think the game does a very bad job at actually teaching you what to look for. Some basic introduction quest like “look this guy got high resistance against x, you should use y instead!” would really go a long way. But EVE isn’t the first game with terrible ingame informations I have played. So after some mighty Google-Fu, market browsing and napkin math later I managed to use some of the money I earned during the epic arc to get myself a ship that was able to do the job. (was some destroyer ship using rockets)
So again I am at the point of “What to do next?” I am sure there is something. But during all this time I realised that nothing I did in the game actually progressed me. Everything seems to be either locked by time and/or money (ISK or whatever it is called). So to get to my question:

Is there any point in actually playing the game? I did some googling but I never find an answer to this. It appears to me that your character has to learn some skills and then you can use the items/ships you unlocked. Since the skills seem to be solely tied to a timer and getting your ship/equiptment is just a question of money it does appear to me that actually playing the game is really pointless. Is this true or did I miss something big?
In the games I play I really like the process of becoming stronger but I don’t enjoy just being strong. So if it all boils down to me having to wait for a timer to run down like in some garbage facebook game and then spending money to buy a ship/item I really don’t think I can enjoy the game. I have seen that you can spend RL cash to speed up both things but I don’t really want to do that. Can I do something in the game to meaningfully progress my character in the career as an enforcer?
To get it exactly: If I decide to play EVE for 10 hours tomorrow, is there a way for me to be stronger (or progress in a meaningful way) than if I decide to not play EVE that day at all and just buy the same amount of money I could have earned ingame using RL Cash?

Sorry if this comes off as whiny (this is not my intent) but I am just trying to decide if it is worth it for me to invest more time into the game or if it is fundamentally designed in a way I dislike. Most new player tutorials never talk about how the basic concept of the game and progression in it actually work. They seem to be more concerned with telling people what not to do.

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You really don’t need to get stronger. Even a day-old new character can fly a destroyer - which is end-game content. Since this is a MMO game, the best fun is to be found playing with other players.

For example, you can become an enforcer in highsec, destroying lazy, money-grubbing, nefarious miners. You will not believe how much fun it is to talk to these grown men afterwards as they cry rivers of tears over their lost internet spaceship. They will even go so far as to make real-life death threats against you.

None of this content is locked behind isk or skills.

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yes

yes

Some say it’s more the journey than the destination The journey is the point.

Some folks kind of like “Then the game just drops you into the universe…” choosing your own path. Actually there is so much to choose from to do in EvE it can be a bit overwhelming. A lot of games are more linear where you are told pretty much what to do at all times. EvE used to be even less like that but it is still enough so to be different.

If you decide you don’t like it that’s ok…thanks for stopping by…hope you find gaming enjoyment out there.

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No.

You can spend all the RL you want on packs and plex to get skill points. But you’ll have no experience.

EVE is a combination of hard and soft skills.

Hard skills are those things your train for in game. You need a plan in mind, not just grabbing everything and anything that seems good.

Soft skills are you experience doing things in the game.

Can’t have one w/o the other and together you grow in the game.

It’s not a fast-rise game. It’s a lot like real life. No short cuts.

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EvE doesn‘t give you a goal or a path, or limit your personal progress in any way. Skills gate certain tools behind time, but nothing stops you from fooling around with the equipment you can use already. Hence the first question you may ask is, what do you want to do in New Eden? Then find the right tools and put the skills for those into your queue.

To give you an impression, playing only one char, I like to be the solo PvP hunter, pro in combat scanning, I like small - mid scale fleet PvP, I also like bubbles, and make my ISK mainly with market and production. I also like the seasonal events, have you tried the winter nexus? It‘s one of the best content in EvE you can get imo.

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Its a sandbox where skills train in real time. I’d advise to find a corp you like and what you like to do to earn money or play.

However, EVE is def a real sandbox MMO. It isn’t for everyone.

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EVE Vegas 2017 - EVE, Goals and Winning - YouTube a talk I gave at Eve Vegas in '17

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um what kind of talk was it for EVE and where???

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For myself the game is more a hobby than what I look for in a ‘game’

It’s akin to when I made wooden model ships - You know, the kind that are in display cases.

Only difference is you’re doing it with people swinging hammers at the model while you try to rig the sails.

It’s not for everybody but you won’t really know until you go down a rabbit hole that challenges/fascinates you. There’s so many there isn’t anyway someone could say what the ‘point’ is. It’s different for every player.

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Paging Mrs Freud, we have found your undergarments

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Best ISK/h is grinding IRL so if you are after ISK then rather spend an extra workhour or few earning some $$$ then spend it on PLEX and convert it to ISK and spend it in game on whatever suits you.

Generally EVE is not about earning ISK even for industrialists, traders and such though in that case it can be a measure of success, accomplishment, progress and comparison to their competition (after all there are many forms of PvP besides pew pew).

So in general ISK is not a goal but instead a means to achieve your playstyle. So for example if you are a PvPer you get ISK one way or another to finance your lost ships and whatnot. The fact you have to earn your ISK (even if you buy it with RL $$$) ensures losses are meaningful in the game. Same goes for PvE you have to recover your losses may them be to other players or NPCs and need ISK to get better or different ships and gear and so on and to try other types of content may it be PvE or even PvP and so forth.

So the real question is what is your goal in the game what is your intended playstyle?

Also you can always try out new things to see if you like them and might make those part of your experience.

So in short yes earning ISK is most efficient grinding IRL instead of in-game. But this is not the point of the game thus no, signing in is not pointless. What gives a point to your gaming experience is what you do with your time and what you spend the ISK on.

Find what is fun for you and sign in for that, that is the point.

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Thanks for all the answers guys especially because they are alot more reasonable than what I have seen on other topics about EVE. lol
As for the game though I don’t think it is the game I am looking for at this time. Atleast for now. I got other games were I am more involved and allready got some “social obligations” towards the people I play with. EVE seems to require more commitment from me to get the fun out of it than I am willing to invest at this moment. Maybe at some point in the future, who knows.

I hope though that you guys can enjoy the game for all it is. Cheers!

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Not every game is for everyone and not necessarily all the time either. May it be EVE or something else enjoy whatever game satisfies you. Good luck and have fun o/

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To be strong in EVE you have various options and will use a combination of:

  • pilot skills - which train in real time (and can be increased by buying skillpoint injectors with ISK)
  • ship and ship modules - which are unlocked with pilot skills and can be bought with ISK
  • game knowledge - which is what you use to bring the right ship fit to the right situation, to read the situation correctly, be able to engage and disengage at the right time and kill other players, or avoid getting killed
  • allies - which you can find while playing, more easily when you join a corporation but also when playing solo. Can be substituted by multiboxing alts in some scenarios, to a certain degree.

As you can see, the first two may be what you think of when you think of ‘progression in a game’. You can skip through them if you have enough ISK, which you can buy with real money, or you can play the game at a normal pace and eventually unlock new ships and therefore new strategies to learn.

Learning, point three, is in my opinion the most important part of EVE. There is no point in flying the most expensive ‘strongest’ ship when you then die to a gang camping a drag bubble because you didn’t know how to use your D-scan properly.

Allies and friends is the next most important part. Who cares if you’re new, with no ISK and no SP and can only fly cheap T1 frigates? A group of newbies together in a fleet is a threat to many players with more expensive ships and more game knowledge. And even at a later stage in the game, having allies that can possibly provide capital ships for an escalation if your enemies dare drop capital ships on your fleet can be a game changing advantage.

So to come back to your question: ‘what can you do in 10 hours that allows you to become stronger?’

You could play the game, earn ISK and use that ISK to get better ships. Alternatively, you could use that ISK to buy skill injectors to speed up the pilot learning process. Either of those can be done quicker if you use real life cash, but personally I enjoy making my ISK ingame.

Better ways to spend your time to get stronger is to just play the game and experience it. Try new things, die to traps, research ways to kill that one guy you see in your space, or just ask your corporation if they know how you could engage him. Learn the game, it makes you a better player.

Lastly, you can spend that 10 hours to join a corporation, and/or make new friends. You’ll be able to take a lot more opponents if you’re flying in a small gang rather than solo.

EVE is a sandbox game with no endgame and no goals. You set your own goals. And if you want to progress to become stronger, you can do so in various ways.

Understandable. EVE is a game which will require some time especially at the start if you want to get in to it. Come back when the urge to try the game out hits you again!

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I want to say thank you to show how to communicate in a mannered way even though you feel the game is not your favorite one.

In the end it’s just a computer game: If you invest 10 hours in pixels, you might be disappointed, especially if you play alone. So you must feel fun, or it’s not worth the time. Fun can be the learning curve, interaction with corpmates, first successful fights, watching the wallet grow, tinkering a smooth fitting, and many other aspects, but obviously one has to be kind of the type for it.

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I’ve been playing Eve for almost 2 years now, but January 2020 wasn’t the first time I installed it. I think I installed it for the very first time in 2015? Didn’t even get undocked. CCP had upgraded the tutorial and my husband told me to try it again. Think that might have been around 2018? I managed to get undocked but I had no idea where to go or what to do. I don’t think the career agent missions were there (or at least you weren’t lead to them like you are now).

I’ve no idea why I installed it again last year other than my husband still played and a developer I work on projects with played. I felt left out so tried it again and the past 2 years have been quite the journey. I’ve learned you can just play the game or you can become part of the game. ;-D

So who knows, maybe in a few years you’ll try it again and like it. Or maybe not. But at least you tried vs. hating it just because it’s the cool thing to do. :smiley:

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When I first started playing I was in college as a broke veteran fresh out of the military. I was in school constantly and didn’t know anybody. I bought EVE for something to do because it seemed like an open ended game where I could make it into whatever I wanted. It got really addicting as my in-game friend Steelsky and I started mining asteroids in Thorax’s, and then later in Megathrons. We got really good at Industry, and I developed in-game friendships too. Perhaps, the friendships part was the best and most addicting part of the game. Just something to keep in mind about the EVE community- its about the people playing more so than the game itself, if you asked me.

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