Also, I’ll add:
I started to get back into PVP in Eve Online via being a solo pirate. No reason really compelled me, I just found it fun. Like @Xuxe_Xu said, I found it like a “Sport” like football/soccer. Something to improve myself upon. A challenge to be good at. Testing my mettle and wits against others I encountered.
Sure it wasn’t min/max-ing ISK nor was it achieving FW objectives – something some players just dont understand – but I was having fun.
Just throwing my 2 cents in, but one of the things that brings me great joy is is taking a simple task and making a molehill out of it. Try and do normal tasks but put absurd restrictions on what you can / can’t do and try and think though how you would do it. First thing that comes to mind is: can you solo bash a structure with a ship smaller then a cruiser? (hint: yes, but bring all the ammo and some more)
Very good points. And thank you to everyone who has commented. I think your last paragraph really sums up the issue I’m having now. Playing solo games has a story line written for me. Skyrim, the Witchers, Fallouts, etc. I had no issue writing my own story when I was newer and building skills and money (I want to fly a tech 2 cruiser, I want to run lvl4 missions in a cruiser, etc…). But EVE is a “sandbox” so you have to create your own path and it’s getting tiresome.
I think that, for me, Destiny has given the most sound advice so far… Why prolong the pain… HEHE. Maybe I’ll take a few months off and com back to the game and see how I feel. Hopefully I will be reinvigorated by the time away.
Also, my comment regarding PVPers was more of a joke then a social comment. I really have no idea what people are really like in outside of the game. The PVP aspect of EVE actually makes the game worth playing as PVE AI isn’t really that challenging. I’m just more of the stealth dodge the PVP kind of player. Note: this generally works about 50% of the time as I’m buying about a cruiser a week…
And to add to that, if/when I come back, I will try a more social approach and join a Corp just for the new experience.
Ah, well see… that’s where the new FW stuff might help you: it’s got storylines. Right now, it looks like it’s all about collecting and turning in secret tech research that has to be obtained through the PvE end of things. Move from arc to arc, see what happens. You might find you enjoy the solo PvE in the FW systems, and even get hooked into some of the RP aspects of it all, too.
Yes maybe, but maybe in a couple of months. It’s funny because the challenge of EVE (other players hunting you, getting ganked even when you think you’re safe) is what I miss in the above mentioned single player games. And the story lines and “path” in the single player games in what I’m missing in EVE. Somebody needs to create an open world PVP focused game with the content of a Skyrim… HEHE.
They tried. It was called “New World,” but during testing, people kept complaining that griefers attacked them while they were just trying to make an honest living through hard work doing PvE content, so they sent it back to the drawing board, added two years to the development time, and released it the way it is today (a boring ESO clone).
o7
I would say the key is to build some medium and long term goals. Assess what needs to be done to achieve them, and get to work.
You are becoming bored because your are remaining firmly in your comfort zone. Bordum is a mechanic in EVE telling you it is time to expand your horizons.
The idea that there is nothing to achieve in EVE is false. The AIR Career Program and Activity Tracker give you plenty of goals to shoot for if you desire. Cruiser and below is where all the action is IMO, and you can participate in a group effort while solo.
There are also explicit things to fight for in EVE. Right now we are undergoing the most active and integrated to a living story going on. Faction Warfare and Shadow War both sculpt the game in different ways.
Faction Warfare is territory control in the lowsec regions. Fly exactly the ship classes you want to fly and get LP to make new faction ships to fly along with it. You can even do it solo quite a bit, though you can always team up with the larger militia efforts. Also the new Direct Enlistment feature makes this easier now.
The Shadow Wars is somewhat separate and alongside FW. The Amarr and Minmatar have mastered one technology and the Caldari have mastered the other. You have to go to sites that make you suspect to help your team steal research from the other teams to finish your Shipcaster. So far we are having tons of fun and no FW required.
In addition to that have you:
Run T6 Abyss?
Spent a week in a wormhole?
Go to Thera/New Eden/B-R5RB/all the cosmic phenomena/etc?
Have you built your own Blackglass implant?
Ran a Sleeper Cache?
I could go on, feel free to DM me in game if you need me too 
The short of it is I see a person that has been constraining their playstyle and still has a whole lot of game to explore.
It’s a tough trick to pull off. Pleasing both the PVP an PVE players. I find EVE’s balance pretty good. I like the risk aspect of the game. I do find that the risk/reward to be a little towards the PVP players. But it’s not a complaint. I think this might hurt the growth potential of the game as it was a steep learning curve when I started playing. But once you learn the ropes, generally the balance works. I haven’t looked into New World. If it’s a ESO copy then I probably won’t as I have no interest in playing “Collecting” games. I have enough collections in real life…
Sure, but it’ll be unplayable solo… becuase the PvPers won’t be solo. They have their goal: kill. And the easiest way to get an advantage is bring friends.
If the game is seeming stale and you’re getting bored with the repetition…
I’m in group of Noobs. We started our own corp and are overly excited about pretty much everything because everything is new content to us. We are a small group so if you wanted to come check us out, you’d still find yourself playing solo at different times throughout the day.
Not sure if hanging out with some peeps that are slightly over-excited about everything sounds like fun… or beyond annoying… but you’re welcome to come see if gives you a different perspective on the game you love.
I disagree. EVE is PVP focussed. And I’ve played solo for 5+ years. I cannot do certain things alone (if I want to continue breathing) but I can and do play and enjoy the game. The game design just needs to be designed to accommodate solo and group players. I like your point about PvPers won’t be solo because its easier to bring friends. Why are people so hooked on easy. I happen to like challenging. That’s probably why I’ve played EVE for so long. The challenge of surviving.
Note: Saying “surviving” means my income is greater then the ships I loose and have to replace. So technically I’m still “dying”
Because their dopamine hit is delivered on success, not on overcoming challenge.
But is there really success in 2 battleships and a cruiser killing a single cruiser. Probably not…
Is there success in a single cruiser dodging a gate camp. probably yes…
The cruiser could play well and manage to get away. They might have friends and be bait.
There are ways you can enter the fight with two battleships and a cruiser versus a single cruiser and not manage to kill the single cruiser without losses, which is why doing so is at least some form of success.
Sure. But generally these encounters start with a cruiser (fast, long range targeting, cheap. Like an Arazu). Hanging around and finding the target. Locking and scramming, then the battleships come in. There could be an elaborate plan to bait but generally these are targeted attacks on Tech 2 PVE spec’d cruisers. So if it is a bait and they still manage to get the kill. Then SUCCESS. But otherwise, unfair odds and not really success. IMHO
But again. This makes the game fun and seem real for non-High SEC PVE’rs like myself. My comment was more towards the a PVP game with a story could not be played solo and why easy is the norm and not challenge
Those people aren’t PvPers, though; they’re GvPers (group-versus-player). Anyone playing some kind of open-world game focused on player combat (not talking about team death match games where being part of a team is the entire point and only possibility), who doesn’t spend at least some time playing, fighting, and surviving alone, isn’t really a “PvPer,” despite the fact that they engage in the act of combat with other players. I consider such players to be cowards and weaklings. Probably even more so than carebears, who are at least honest about their intent. EVE certainly has a lot of such players. The good news is that it’s still possible to beat them even when they’re in groups, because their individual skills are relatively low due to their reliance on odds as a crutch. I’ve engaged groups (both in EVE and other games) and observed that some members will straight-up flee the battle due to sheer terror, even as the rest are still fighting.
Anyway, it’s probably better for the OP to take a break and come back refreshed, instead of getting completely burned out and winning EVE permanently. I think that trying to convince them to shoehorn into some kind of “new” activity is a bad idea right now, but I also think that the OP should try to get into PvP when they come back.