Scared of PVP

[RobinGBrown]

Just realised one of the things thats holding me back in EVE is that I'm scared of PVP.

I was reading a fascinating account of PVP from someone on this site and it struck me as really exciting - yet every time I start to make plans I always come up with some reason why I shouldn't PVP. Either it's too costly, or I don't have the time, or I just feel like doing something else, but all these are just excuses for wanting to avoid PVP.

Now I do have one problem that would make me unattractive to a PVP corp which is that I'm unreliable, by which I mean that I can't predict when I'll be available to play with any degree of reliability because I have other things going on that mean I can't commit ahead of time.

How do other people feel about PVP? If you do it how do you fit it in with your other EVE activities? and how do you afford it? I hear a lot of people saying that EVE is best for PVP but not why.

[Redbeard]

Ive been playing Eve since 06 and I have 1 pvp kill to my name. It was in 0.0 space, and it was an accident. I was fighting some belt rats with my dominix so I had my drones deployed. My guy has maxed drone skills and coupled with the domi's drone dmg bonus he packs a mean punch. So my drones were deployed, and I didnt notice it , but two small enemy ships had jumped into the belt wtih me. One of them attacked me, and my drones set upon him and took him down very quickly.

Anyways, PVP is not something im into. A lot of people love pvp in eve, and find it exhilirating. There is something said to the actual risk of losing all your hard earned stuff that adds a certain element that WoW lacks... just not my bag.

[turbonapkin]

In reply to the OP, that is exactly the way many people, from new players to veterans, feel about PVP in eve. Alot of the time my hands shake with the adrenaline running through my veins as i try to f1 f2 f3 f4 and I've been playing for a long time! Below are some more thoughts on why i think PVP is uniquely attractive compared to other MMOs.

Scalability/variety of engagement. For instance, in the last week I have been involved in fights of wildy varying sizes and wildy varying makeup (e.g. Titans, dreads, carriers, BS, cruisers, hacs, interceptors, logistics ships), and other fights where each side is fielding over 250 battleships on the battlefield. Eve caters for every level and type of engagement, from 1 vs 1 to 1000 vs 1000 (although i will admit, the big fights turn into a lagfest where the winner is the side that manages that lag most effectively). If you like to jam people rather than do DPS, there are specific skill routes you can go down to cater for that. If you want to be the logistics guy who reps people's shields/armour and gives cap then you can train for that too (protip: logistics skills are highly valued in 0.0 corporations/alliances). This is only a tiny taste of the roles available.

'Player smarts': The importance of player intelligence is grossly underestimated by even the most experienced players - if you are the type of guy who likes to theorycraft, posthume on different pvp scenarios, and meta-game then you have a massive advantage in this game. I have seen frigates kill cruisers, cruisers destroy battleships, battleships kill carriers, and various other ridiculous scenarios. Knowledge is absolute power in eve in every aspect - not just pvp.

The harsh reality that is New Eden: Unlike the rest of the hello kitty online MMOs out there, a loss in eve has true meaning. Once your ship is destroyed, it's gone forever. In games like wow, once you hit a skill level you stay there. In eve, if you screw up and dont upgrade your clone, you may find yourself losing millions of skillpoints if you get podded. Of all aspects, it's this harsh reality that has brought me back to the game over and over again.


If you are looking to learn about and experience PVP, I can think of no better corp/alliance to join than Eve University. My flatmate recently joined them (he is ten days old) and I have been hugely impressed with how they teach their members. They run podcasts on various aspects of the game including alot of pvp stuff, run in-game sessions with pilots to let you practice pvp in a relatively safe environment and they are generally all-round good guys who will not put any pressure on you to do anything you don't want to. If you are interested in getting an idea of what they're like join their ingame recruitment channel 'Eve University'.

If you want to talk more about pvp in general I am usually in our ingame channel - name is Thorn Glawer.

[Thulos]

Honestly the best thing to do to get involved in pvp is to join a 0.0 alliance that is active in 0.0 warfare. Most corps will even provide newbie tackling frigates at no cost. In my opinion training up for a tackling rifter (which takes hardly any time) and getting involved in 0.0 warfare as a tackler is the single best way to start out in pvp. My alliance makes our new members come straight out to our 0.0 space from day one. If you move out to 0.0 from day one you can usually scavenge wrecks from 0.0 ratters that don't loot and make millions an hour which will easily keep you in pvp frigates and cruisers.

Turbonapkin mentioned EvE university and I've heard good things about them so that is always an option. Regardless of who you join I seriously recomend everyone get out to 0.0, its what EvE is all about. There is very little empire has to offer beyond safety. What are all those new shiny ships good for if you can't use them for anything! 0.0 may not be safe but the risk is offset by the riches that 0.0 space offers. Get out there and see the real EvE.

[Souca]

Not sure if I was the inspiration for this post or not, but either way I'd be more than willing to help out where I can. The one thing that others have said and is a great truth to Eve is that there is no limit to the types of PvP you can do. At the simplest level it can be solo all the way up to fleet encounters or 10 ships fleet roams.

I joined a pirate corp on one of my unadvertised combat characters because I wanted to get into the fight and it seemed to be the least likely to have drama and the paranoia of spies that come with large alliances in sovereign space (GoonSwarm, AAA, BoB/KenZoku, etc.). With this corp I got to do some small scale encounters and I got to live in 0.0. It's scary out there, but the fear turns into caution and then you look back and realize it's only internet spaceships. I got really lucky though. One of the high ranking officers in my small little pirate corp in a small little pirate alliance had decided she wanted to go back to her fleet corp and that it could be good for everyone to come along. I'm now in a corp with about 80 players that is in an alliance with about 4 corps. We don't have terriotory like the sovereign alliances have, but we do have space and people know its ours.

This isn't the only type of PvP there is, but there is a lot of variation even in the corp/alliance I'm in. Some players solo roam looking for straggling nuets, short for nuetrals. If they aren't blue and therefore friendly to us, they get killed and podded. If they don't like this they can eitehr go elsewhere or they can make arangements to be allowed in our space and this be a blue.

Some times intel will come in about targets in system and we will form a fleet with as few as 5 ships. It can be very orginaized with fleet warps, tactical jumps, and scouts in covert ops or it might just be 5 guys in frigates and cruisers looking for an easy target. I've seen more combat and more variation in the three days since the corp merge than I have in all the time I've played Eve and I've had so much fun that it seems like a whole new game for me.

Okay, I've rambled a little too much, so let me get back to my intent for the post. PM me and let me know when you will be online this weekend or week and I'll get some ships together and fitted and we can go out and figure out what PvP works for you. Hell, I'll even act as a target dummy for you, just don't pod me if I'm in a char with implants If you let me know what ships you can fly, or give me a list of skills I'll even set up soem different flavors of ships for you to get a feel for the different roles you can play in a PvP scenario. I won't claim to be the best teacher or know even 1% of what there is to know about Eve PvP, but I will let you shoot me

- Souca -

[RobinGBrown]

Thanks for the offer Souca and I'd like to take you up on it - but it'll have to be in a week or two as I'm moving house this weekend and won't get broadband at the new flat for at least a few days after I've moved in.

I have set a bunch of my guys training Hull Upgrades V (vital for armour tanking) and other long term skills. I'm also planning on opening up a PVP character once I've settled in to the new place, so I'll get stuck into that with you, should be cool. I do like the thrill of PVP in WoW but just overly worried about the hideous loss rate in EVE.

[Tombs]

I just bit the bullet and started a trial of Eve again. I am interested in small PvP (1v1 / 2v1 / 2v2) but I have no idea what is good. Assault ships look fun but I have no idea if they're competitive. Any tips from the pros about what ship could hold its own in most pvp encounters?

[Thulos]

I just bit the bullet and started a trial of Eve again. I am interested in small PvP (1v1 / 2v1 / 2v2) but I have no idea what is good. Assault ships look fun but I have no idea if they're competitive. Any tips from the pros about what ship could hold its own in most pvp encounters?

Assault Frigates are pretty crappy to be quite honest but all the skills apply to their bigger brothers the Heavy Assault Ships, which are awesome.

[RobinGBrown]

AFAIK Interceptors are very popular for gang PVP and getting in to a 0.0 corp. I've got an Interceptor pilot I'm going to try out with in a couple of weeks when things settle down.

[Souca]

If you can tackle, and you can afford to lose the ship, you will have no prob getting in a corp. Heck, if you can tackle some corps will even give you the ship. Tacklers are always in demand as people usually don't want to fill the role once they can get into a bigger ship.

- Souca -