Eve gets new content
In the form of the 2nd part of a free expansion titled Revelations II
Patching is underway right now and the servers should be up by 6PM PST. Full patch notes here
One of the major new features I think will draw some players in (or back in) are the changes and additions to Agents and missions. Previously the highest level of mission was Level 4 which usually involves strings of battleships. These were challenging to most players solo but the only rewards people in the group besides the mission starter could expect were a share of the bounties on the NPCs and loot.
Now they've added in a new tier of missions. Level 5, featuring enemies in some of the biggest ships in the game and clearly geared towards groups to tackle. To go with it, the game now will reward up to 5 people in your group, splitting the money, standings and loyalty point rewards.
They've also revamped the loyalty points system. Previously it was a way to earn cool stuff in offers from specific agents. This meant you earned points that were locked down to each mission-giving agent. Now the points will all go to a pool for the NPC corporation and you can browse a list of all possible rewards and choose what you want, instead of waiting around for an offer you like. (I was offered 1 million units of 'Reports' yesterday. wtf? Now I'll be able to choose something better suited to my style of play)
It's my hope that these changes will lead to PvE being less of a solo activity and something that groups are more often seen doing. As a newer player I've been doing level 1,2 and 3 missions on my own, trying to get to level 4 where other players actually want to join in. With group rewards, newer players -should- be able to jump right into the higher level missions and earn the rewards. Generally there are ways to contribute even if you cannot fly the biggest ships yet, even just trailing behind and picking up loot to share with the group. (something of a chore for the big slow boats that normally run these missions)
There are also huge updates to the highest end of the player spectrum. Eve has an end game like no other. Now alliances will be able to properly control territory through the 'sovereignty' system and fleet/starbase combat is seeing upgrades to add more for players to do. Stealth bombers can launch deadly strikes on big ships or against structures. Raiding parties can hit starbases to disrupt systems. The biggest ships and weapons are becoming less effective against the smallest ships, to improve their survivability. This should allow the small ships to fight each other instead of just being blotted off the map by the big guns, so they can fight over stuff like taking down a station's jump bridge to slow the flow of reinforcements, or with a really good first strike, prevent any immediate reinforcement.
Its a pretty huge update overall which should go a long way towards balancing the biggest battles in the game so that everyone has something to do, players not interested in PVP have more to do, players at the highest levels of corporate control and strategic decision making have more to do, and with the addition of 'Heat' which is a sort of risky overclocking for ship components, combat on the most basic level is more involved for players who choose to use it.
I think I picked a good time to start playing again.
/plant 
ThePolypusher
WAR - Dolz
Can a deactivated account buy a GTC from another player?
I was wondering about that too, but I just found a forum post about buying and selling GTC for ISK. It says that it is possible for a deactivated account to buy the gtc and talks about how. Im assuming thats what you wanted, since you could just use the store if you wanted to pay real money for a time code.
Link
Also see
Secure Time Code Exchange FAQ
ThePolypusher
WAR - Dolz
I already do something very much like Eve, but it doesn't cost as much. It's called "working."
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
Wow, you get to fight over stuff like taking down a station's jump bridge to slow the flow of reinforcements at your job? That sounds fun.
Stupid work blocking the patch notes from me, it's just not right.
I don't know if the neighbors will be able to put up with my girl-like screams in the middle of the night.- LiquidMantis
Blyvie - 70 Protection Warrior Klios - 70 Fire Mage
Xavina - 70 Resto Druid Miristaa - 70 Enh Sham
Just so you know, the patch "notes" for revelations part II took me about half an hour to read and then a lot of time to understand. They're really not messing about with this one - Eventhough the corp I am in probably won't engage in battles involving starbases, it is reasurring that when that time comes, I won't just be a battleship in the blob, gunning at the designated target under immense lag. The level 5 mission will be a blast though, especially since you will be able to divide the LP and standing (if those two aren't directly connect - i am not yet sure) within the gang.
While I do think the patches sound good on paper, I'm curious as to how all the space holding mechanics changes will affect current large conflicts. While it is good that larger alliances have to exert more combined effort in maximizing the use of their current space to make it more defensible, the changes in this patch make their positions even stronger.
I for one am glad that my current alliance has decided to not engage in large fleet warfare unless called on by our friends because mid-sized fleets finally have something to do. We are finally becoming relevant again. The big boys will have their own empire but now we can play the small band of rebels that goes and pisses them off every so often.
In other news... yay for bombs! Damn expensive to manufacture though and I'm still waiting to see one actually deployed, but I'm really excited for the future of the stealthbomber. My only reservation is that the bomb seems to have been introduced pre-nerfed.
But I'm sure the balancing will come later. In the meantime... take advantage of what you can in this new patch, including the predicted crash of the +4/+5 implant market, the resuscitation of the zydrine market price, the big leap in logistics cruiser prices, etc.
"Fine. Take her out to lunch and then at an opportune lull in the conversation poke your finger directly in her anus. Chances are she'll leave you alone after that. If not, hey buttsex!" - ColdForged, on how to turn women away and/or get buttsex
I just started playing this game a few days ago. Besides the STEEP learning curve, im really enjoying it right now. I got so sick of WoW that i cancelled mine and my girlfriends accounts. She didnt want to play WoW unless i was anyway, and i was flipping the bill.
Eve is a slower paced MMO but im finding it very enjoyable, i love the Sci Fi setting, which has been something i have been looking for in an MMO for a long time. I have read numerous forums and guides for newbie info on the game. Can anyone here give me a little insight on their thoughts of the best way to start out in the game?
The pilot i created is named Stryke Renshaw and he is Minmatar, Brutor, Slave child, Military and Special Forces. I went with this combo because i read alot of good stuff about this combo for first time players as it gives you alot of great skills to utilize early on so you can see how the games works a little better.
Im gonna go the pirate hunter, bounty hunter route unless something changes for right now. Any advice would be great!
Welcome strader. There are a couple other EVE threads buried a way down in the pile that have some good information in them. There is a GWJ channel but I'm not remembering the password right now. I know it is in those other threads, but am off to a meeting right now. Cheers.
I don't know if the neighbors will be able to put up with my girl-like screams in the middle of the night.- LiquidMantis
Blyvie - 70 Protection Warrior Klios - 70 Fire Mage
Xavina - 70 Resto Druid Miristaa - 70 Enh Sham
evegwj is the password, I think.
I really wish I had the time to devote to EVE.
Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
I find it ironic anytime a healthy vaccinated person bitches about science...on the internet. - MaverickDago
I downloaded the trial...I already have one massive time sink (WoW). What is one more?
I haven't found Eve to be much of a time sink. There's no grinding for levels or skills, so at any time you can set a long skill to training and go do something else. Even for days, and when you come back, you won't have lost progress for not being there.
Of course that doesnt mean I don't spend a lot of time in game.
All goodjers be sure to join the channel 'GWJ' to chat with your fellows. The password is either evegwj, or gwjeve
Its usually whatever you try 2nd
ThePolypusher
WAR - Dolz
Strader, the minmatar are a little bit more skill intensive compared to the other races. However, they have awesome ships and weapons. With that said, the only generic piece of advice I can give you is to specialize. Try and find out what type of ship you'll be most inclined to fly and build up your skills around it.
It sounds like you want to have a combat-oriented character. That's great. Focus on the supporting combat skills. It might take you all of 5 hours to train up your skill to get into the ship you want itself, but it is the supporting skills that will make or break that ships performance in combat.
That goes for Mateo too. More specific advice and help can be found in the ingame channel.
So join the GWJ channel or if you can't get in, add us onto your buddy list in game and say hello. I'm Promethean Starter ingame.
"Fine. Take her out to lunch and then at an opportune lull in the conversation poke your finger directly in her anus. Chances are she'll leave you alone after that. If not, hey buttsex!" - ColdForged, on how to turn women away and/or get buttsex
I had my Minmater pilot reprocessed, i didnt like him very much. So i made a Gallente pilot who looks alot like Kurt Cobain, lol. Anyway hes special forces, i liked the extra starting skills in drones he came with. Those little donres are tough mothers. This is my dilemna though, after i finished the first agents quests, the 10 series one, i was lost as where to go next. So i went to the next systems station and got a pirate hunting quest. Well i warped to the location in my fat boy ship decked out in railguns and my drone and got my ass handed to me, i did warp out in time though. I dont want to fail anymore missions, so im gonna have to be careful of the next ones i choose. Is there anyway to know the difficulty of the mission before accepting it?
So far i have focused mainly on my learning skills, i went and bought Instant Recall and learned 3 of the learning skills up to lvl 3 to speed up my learning of the other skills. So far so good. I will get in the gwj channel next time im on, im gonna have some noob questions. I really am loving this game so far though.
Yeah, the missions can vary widely in their difficulty even within the same level. The site www.eveinfo.com or www.eve-info.com gives an introduction to what types of damage the different missions do as well as possible things to watch out for in them. I can't access from work so I'm just trying to remember. Drones are great, but you have to be careful with them in missions, because sometimes they will aggro the entire group of bad guys at once, which can be extremely painful.
I don't know if the neighbors will be able to put up with my girl-like screams in the middle of the night.- LiquidMantis
Blyvie - 70 Protection Warrior Klios - 70 Fire Mage
Xavina - 70 Resto Druid Miristaa - 70 Enh Sham
Other than the sites that Rybowl linked to not really. Once you complete a few more missions you can generally tell how hard the mission is going to be by looking at the lp reward. Of course that only works for missions that are the same level (ie 1,2,3 and 4). You might have done a lvl 2 mission and not just a lvl 1 mission I'm not sure, and there is a large difference between them. It sounds like your running a tristan, personally I prefer the incursis and a speed tank since you will mostly be fighting blaster ships you just need to keep your distance and you'll be ok using railguns.
I'll try and play some in the evenings this week to hopefully help you answer your questions. Especially about setups, just ask Rybowl about how much fun that can be.
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing noise they make as they fly by." -- Douglas Adams