Eve Online

[Alarien]

I've been in Eve University for about 2 years, mostly helping run and teach out of the Low-Sec Campus, where we focus on low-sec living and PVP (small gang, large gang, solo, pretty much everything). I'll be moving out finally in a couple months, out to null.

This game is what you make of it, based on your interest in any of the following: hardcore PVP, PVE that can be anywhere from dull and safe to unsafe and fairly tense (in low sec), industry, and market manipulation (market PVP).

The learning curve is pretty epic, however. The ongoing joke is that the official CCP introduction to the game is "Here is a Rubik's Cube. Now go F yourself." Because of that, I would recommend finding an actual corporation, and one that is particularly friendly to newbies. These are the best way to learn about the mechanics of the game without having to find out everything "the hard way." You will learn more in 2 weeks in a good corporation, than you will in a year of playing on your own. Believe me, I was the same and I hear it every day from new Uni members who have actually been in game a while.

Some good choices are:

*Eve University (E-Uni) (all aspects of the game, through sub-capital non-sov null) - fairly strict rules, but rules that are in place to protect you from making dumb mistakes early. Friendly community with campuses in low-sec, w-space, and null-sec. Free newbie ships and 1m ISK in free skillbooks a day.

*Red vs. Blue (RVB) (high sec and some low-sec PVP) - RVB is a good crew, made up of two corporations that are based in high sec and permanently at war with each other. If you want to jump in the game and get in fights for fun, they are the way to go.

*Brave Newbies, Inc (BNI) (general asshat PVP, high/low/null) - The Brave Newbs are a mishmash of new players lead by some competent vets who are pretty much all PVP, all the time. They range from your standard new player troll/asshat to some pretty decent people, but your experience will probably be towards the asshat side.

Unsurprisingly, I highly recommend E-Uni. Despite what you might hear from some uninformed numbskulls in game, the University will provide you with all the basics and intermediate information necessary to make informed decisions about what you want to do in game, provides a work-fair with plenty of good corps eager to recruit Uni members, and has a much wider breadth of knowledge and experience it can offer new players than pretty much any other corporation.

http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Main_Page