Apparently we had an actual spy in the corp too. Well, another one I mean.
Do we even have anything worth spying on?
NEO|Phyte on
It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
Warframe/Steam: NFyt
Well, my cruiser got blown up. I got bored and left my computer but forgot to actually quit Eve, and when I got back I was in a station.
I guess I'll grab my old frigate and see if I can make it out to Merch space. I don't know if it's the game or if I've been doing boring stuff, but lately I've been... bored.
I can't claim EVE is nonstop action, but the 0.0 metagame is completely unique and that's where you want to be at and be a part of.
I made it to Merch headquarters and found no allies there (in fact, I got blown up a couple of times) but then I reset my clone to some penis-looking space station in Deklein and went there.
I bought a new cruiser and outfitted it. I've since been trying to take down some pirates. They've got these damn torpedoes that can hit me at 100km, and although I can tank one battleship indefinitely I cannot damage it in return.
I think once I get heavy missiles trained I'll try again (after replacing these crappy railguns; dual 150mm guns barely seem to scratch destroyers).
I can't claim EVE is nonstop action, but the 0.0 metagame is completely unique and that's where you want to be at and be a part of.
I made it to Merch headquarters and found no allies there (in fact, I got blown up a couple of times) but then I reset my clone to some penis-looking space station in Deklein and went there.
I bought a new cruiser and outfitted it. I've since been trying to take down some pirates. They've got these damn torpedoes that can hit me at 100km, and although I can tank one battleship indefinitely I cannot damage it in return.
I think once I get heavy missiles trained I'll try again (after replacing these crappy railguns; dual 150mm guns barely seem to scratch destroyers).
Yeah, you can't do a whole lot of ratting (if any) in a cruiser here. You'll need a battlecruiser at least, I've been using a Drake and it's pretty damn good for it so you might look into that.
I can't claim EVE is nonstop action, but the 0.0 metagame is completely unique and that's where you want to be at and be a part of.
I made it to Merch headquarters and found no allies there (in fact, I got blown up a couple of times) but then I reset my clone to some penis-looking space station in Deklein and went there.
I bought a new cruiser and outfitted it. I've since been trying to take down some pirates. They've got these damn torpedoes that can hit me at 100km, and although I can tank one battleship indefinitely I cannot damage it in return.
I think once I get heavy missiles trained I'll try again (after replacing these crappy railguns; dual 150mm guns barely seem to scratch destroyers).
Yeah, you can't do a whole lot of ratting (if any) in a cruiser here. You'll need a battlecruiser at least, I've been using a Drake and it's pretty damn good for it so you might look into that.
What's a good way to make money in the pre-battlecruiser eras, then? I don't have the patience for mining or the like. Are there any areas that cruisers can make progress in?
Also, what's our general political situation? I know we're part of the Goonion. We seem to be allied with Dreddit as well (I've been using one of their stations without getting shot at, anyway, in 0.0 space). There's some kind of French-ish federation that seems to be on our side, too, though I could be wrong about that. They seem to have a high standing with us, if that means anything.
I can't claim EVE is nonstop action, but the 0.0 metagame is completely unique and that's where you want to be at and be a part of.
I made it to Merch headquarters and found no allies there (in fact, I got blown up a couple of times) but then I reset my clone to some penis-looking space station in Deklein and went there.
I bought a new cruiser and outfitted it. I've since been trying to take down some pirates. They've got these damn torpedoes that can hit me at 100km, and although I can tank one battleship indefinitely I cannot damage it in return.
I think once I get heavy missiles trained I'll try again (after replacing these crappy railguns; dual 150mm guns barely seem to scratch destroyers).
Yeah, you can't do a whole lot of ratting (if any) in a cruiser here. You'll need a battlecruiser at least, I've been using a Drake and it's pretty damn good for it so you might look into that.
What's a good way to make money in the pre-battlecruiser eras, then? I don't have the patience for mining or the like. Are there any areas that cruisers can make progress in?
Also, what's our general political situation? I know we're part of the Goonion. We seem to be allied with Dreddit as well (I've been using one of their stations without getting shot at, anyway, in 0.0 space). There's some kind of French-ish federation that seems to be on our side, too, though I could be wrong about that. They seem to have a high standing with us, if that means anything.
There isn't a whole lot to do to make isk except following someone who's ratting and looting their wrecks and salvaging (once you train that up), scamming people, and sometimes you can loot stuff while on ops. You can probably easily go on ops as soon as you train into flying a Rifter and some basic tackling skills. Then, if you survive (or if you died close enough to where your clone is located at) you can loot some of the wrecks after the battle.
I can't claim EVE is nonstop action, but the 0.0 metagame is completely unique and that's where you want to be at and be a part of.
I made it to Merch headquarters and found no allies there (in fact, I got blown up a couple of times) but then I reset my clone to some penis-looking space station in Deklein and went there.
I bought a new cruiser and outfitted it. I've since been trying to take down some pirates. They've got these damn torpedoes that can hit me at 100km, and although I can tank one battleship indefinitely I cannot damage it in return.
I think once I get heavy missiles trained I'll try again (after replacing these crappy railguns; dual 150mm guns barely seem to scratch destroyers).
Yeah, you can't do a whole lot of ratting (if any) in a cruiser here. You'll need a battlecruiser at least, I've been using a Drake and it's pretty damn good for it so you might look into that.
What's a good way to make money in the pre-battlecruiser eras, then? I don't have the patience for mining or the like. Are there any areas that cruisers can make progress in?
Also, what's our general political situation? I know we're part of the Goonion. We seem to be allied with Dreddit as well (I've been using one of their stations without getting shot at, anyway, in 0.0 space). There's some kind of French-ish federation that seems to be on our side, too, though I could be wrong about that. They seem to have a high standing with us, if that means anything.
Cruisers are just plain bad at making money in 0.0, but if you can fly one, then you are within a day or two at most from flying a battlecruiser anyway. The ability of BC's to fit cruiser size weapons makes them really easy to put together as well.
In the 2-3 days it takes to train up a drake though, your options are regretfully limited to salvaging, or running lvl 1-2 pirate missions in venal. The oversaturation of gurista mods makes missions a bit less attractive, but salvaging requires you to ask someone if you can have their anomaly once their done. So just have a little patience, and you'll be on your own two feet in no time.
As for politics, we live in arguably one of the safest regions in Eve. The french alliance you mention is TCF, they have helped goons for many years, and are stepping to the side now because of internal problems, giving us deklein. You'll run into other residents of deklein that are staying as per the wishes of TCF as well. They are TNT, BCA, and OWN. They're minor players, but do their part to keep the space secure and utilize the resources. Dreddit, we'll they're dreddit
On the bigger scale, we live in the "north" of eve. It is controlled by a coalition of alliances called, well, the "Northern Coalition." It's arguably the strongest entity in eve currently, and is lead by Morsus Mihi, and Razor. Two long time friends of Goons.
Hostile alliances you will find that roam through our space are Ev0ke (nazis), dead terrorists (generic nobodies), and d00m (~elite pvp'ers). Under the current game mechanics they essentially cannot take our space, but like to make life miserable when they can. Just watch local, and the surveillance channels, and you won't get blown up.
Finally, if you need any help getting into your first BC, just ask in corp chat, we'll be glad to help with the cash.
There's also a free cruiser program if you join the newbie boot camp, I just found out about that. Soon I'll graduate from tackling in a rifter to tackling in a stabber.
Woo, first fleet OP complete. Rifter 001 made it back to base in one piece, with a hold full of salvage.
Fell waaay behind while I asked how to get through a POS JB (right click the capacitor? really? I mean, I remember reading it now, but how unintuitive is that?!?), but I caught back up in time to see the action and get the point on target.
How well would a destroyer or cruiser go at running one of the lowest tier anomolies? No BS rats, so the money sucks, but plenty of the stuff they can blow up. Plus if the system has military upgrades there should always be at least two.
I was worried about Deklein at first, the first couple ops I went on there were tumbleweeds all over the north. But the two today we found people to kill on both of them.
I guess we're still gonna have to spend a lot of time shooting stations and babysitting TCUs, but that's what eve online hold'em is for.
I can't claim EVE is nonstop action, but the 0.0 metagame is completely unique and that's where you want to be at and be a part of.
I made it to Merch headquarters and found no allies there (in fact, I got blown up a couple of times) but then I reset my clone to some penis-looking space station in Deklein and went there.
I bought a new cruiser and outfitted it. I've since been trying to take down some pirates. They've got these damn torpedoes that can hit me at 100km, and although I can tank one battleship indefinitely I cannot damage it in return.
I think once I get heavy missiles trained I'll try again (after replacing these crappy railguns; dual 150mm guns barely seem to scratch destroyers).
Yeah, you can't do a whole lot of ratting (if any) in a cruiser here. You'll need a battlecruiser at least, I've been using a Drake and it's pretty damn good for it so you might look into that.
What's a good way to make money in the pre-battlecruiser eras, then? I don't have the patience for mining or the like. Are there any areas that cruisers can make progress in?
Also, what's our general political situation? I know we're part of the Goonion. We seem to be allied with Dreddit as well (I've been using one of their stations without getting shot at, anyway, in 0.0 space). There's some kind of French-ish federation that seems to be on our side, too, though I could be wrong about that. They seem to have a high standing with us, if that means anything.
Cruisers are just plain bad at making money in 0.0, but if you can fly one, then you are within a day or two at most from flying a battlecruiser anyway. The ability of BC's to fit cruiser size weapons makes them really easy to put together as well.
In the 2-3 days it takes to train up a drake though, your options are regretfully limited to salvaging, or running lvl 1-2 pirate missions in venal. The oversaturation of gurista mods makes missions a bit less attractive, but salvaging requires you to ask someone if you can have their anomaly once their done. So just have a little patience, and you'll be on your own two feet in no time.
As for politics, we live in arguably one of the safest regions in Eve. The french alliance you mention is TCF, they have helped goons for many years, and are stepping to the side now because of internal problems, giving us deklein. You'll run into other residents of deklein that are staying as per the wishes of TCF as well. They are TNT, BCA, and OWN. They're minor players, but do their part to keep the space secure and utilize the resources. Dreddit, we'll they're dreddit
On the bigger scale, we live in the "north" of eve. It is controlled by a coalition of alliances called, well, the "Northern Coalition." It's arguably the strongest entity in eve currently, and is lead by Morsus Mihi, and Razor. Two long time friends of Goons.
Hostile alliances you will find that roam through our space are Ev0ke (nazis), dead terrorists (generic nobodies), and d00m (~elite pvp'ers). Under the current game mechanics they essentially cannot take our space, but like to make life miserable when they can. Just watch local, and the surveillance channels, and you won't get blown up.
Finally, if you need any help getting into your first BC, just ask in corp chat, we'll be glad to help with the cash.
Thanks; that actually helps a lot.
What race of ships should I be training, primarily? I picked Caldari almost at random and so far that's where almost all of my (admittedly few) skill points have gone. The Rifter is Minmatar, I believe, and the Stabber sounds like a Minmatar name too. Are Minmatar ships more useful overall? Caldari ships seem reasonably well-balanced so far (although it's hard to shield-tank with such a low power output). I have trouble keeping everything at range, though.
In the goon forums there's a thread explaining the new desired fleet makeup, it'll have a bunch of options. I was glad to have that thread because I was confused as shit earlier. I mean I still am, but now I have a thread telling me "just train this."
I'll let some one else answer that one, because if I answer it, it will be a very very long post.
Lets just say: All ships have their place (save a very few that just out right suck compared to their racial equals), and no race is "wrong". Except Gallente, those ships suck right now in most PvP situations. Minmatar is favored for PvP, but Caldari have their place.
I gotta say, I just took a break from Eve, came back and finally joined Merchi, I should have done this a long time ago, even after a few days, it's pretty hilarious and fun.
Caldari Cruiser to 3 as a pre-req for the Drake would be very worthwhile pretty much whatever you're doing. All of the tech 1 BCs are actually boosted by the Battlecruiser skill only, so leaving Cruiser at 3 if that's as far as you want to take it doesn't hurt anything, and leaves your options open with a small investment in time. Battlecruiser to 4 you will not regret.
I've been playing around in BC hulls to get an idea of where I want to go long term, as they give the basic experience of the race (Amarr armor tank + Lasers, Caldari shields + missiles, Minnie EVERYTHING, Gallente moar drones, etc). I don't regret training 3/4 racial cruiser skills to 3, and won't regret the fourth one, even with my low SPs.
Beyond that, read as much stuff as you can to get ideas on where you want to go, and fly a bunch of different stuff to see what you like. Save T2 weapon training until you know where you want to start.
If I get a big 'ol energy neutralizer and a vamp to power it, will I be able to beat down a battleship, assuming I can tank its return fire?
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
Well, thanks. That's sort of disappointing, though. I guess I'll have to head back to Empire space for a while.
If you're with MerchI you don't have to go back. Train the skills to fly a battlecruiser (a drake is a very good one and would only take a few days) and while training for it you can follow a MerchI who is ratting and loot and/or salvage after them to make good money. It's what a lot of us did as newbies and it works out pretty well. Plus most of us will help with the cost of skillbooks and perhaps your first drake hull.
If I get a big 'ol energy neutralizer and a vamp to power it, will I be able to beat down a battleship, assuming I can tank its return fire?
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
Well, thanks. That's sort of disappointing, though. I guess I'll have to head back to Empire space for a while.
Yeah, never head back to Empire. There is ALWAYS a way to make isk and have fun out in 0.0 while you wait for skills to train. Giving up is the worst possible answer Like Darmak said, you can salvage for a good bit of isk, and we have all sorts of stuff set up to help newbies get started in life in 0.0
If I get a big 'ol energy neutralizer and a vamp to power it, will I be able to beat down a battleship, assuming I can tank its return fire?
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
Well, thanks. That's sort of disappointing, though. I guess I'll have to head back to Empire space for a while.
If you're with MerchI you don't have to go back. Train the skills to fly a battlecruiser (a drake is a very good one and would only take a few days) and while training for it you can follow a MerchI who is ratting and loot and/or salvage after them to make good money. It's what a lot of us did as newbies and it works out pretty well. Plus most of us will help with the cost of skillbooks and perhaps your first drake hull.
I'd like to feel like I'm contributing in some fashion, though. I've got a Caracal with three standard missile launchers (I lost my heavy missile skill book before I could inject it; I'll need to make a trip back to the empire at some point) and three heavy assault launchers.
If someone wants a little extra dps somewhere I'd be happy to accompany them. I don't think anything I've got will make a huge difference, but it should at least speed things up.
If I get a big 'ol energy neutralizer and a vamp to power it, will I be able to beat down a battleship, assuming I can tank its return fire?
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
Well, thanks. That's sort of disappointing, though. I guess I'll have to head back to Empire space for a while.
If you're with MerchI you don't have to go back. Train the skills to fly a battlecruiser (a drake is a very good one and would only take a few days) and while training for it you can follow a MerchI who is ratting and loot and/or salvage after them to make good money. It's what a lot of us did as newbies and it works out pretty well. Plus most of us will help with the cost of skillbooks and perhaps your first drake hull.
I'd like to feel like I'm contributing in some fashion, though. I've got a Caracal with three standard missile launchers (I lost my heavy missile skill book before I could inject it; I'll need to make a trip back to the empire at some point) and three heavy assault launchers.
If someone wants a little extra dps somewhere I'd be happy to accompany them. I don't think anything I've got will make a huge difference, but it should at least speed things up.
You can probably tag along with someone, but there's nothing wrong with salvaging. A lot of times people just leave the loot and such sitting there and just go to the next belt but if you salvage it then put it in a dropcan and turn it over to our Fleshreaper program they turn it into minerals for our ships (and money for you). You're helping us help each other out by providing the minerals they need to manufacture the ships we use, while still making money off of it. So don't think that salvaging isn't helping out any, we appreciate it very much.
Fuck I have the urge to play this game again. Fortunately (unfortunately?) I sold my character and would have to start from scratch, and that's just no fun.
If I get a big 'ol energy neutralizer and a vamp to power it, will I be able to beat down a battleship, assuming I can tank its return fire?
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
Well, thanks. That's sort of disappointing, though. I guess I'll have to head back to Empire space for a while.
If you're with MerchI you don't have to go back. Train the skills to fly a battlecruiser (a drake is a very good one and would only take a few days) and while training for it you can follow a MerchI who is ratting and loot and/or salvage after them to make good money. It's what a lot of us did as newbies and it works out pretty well. Plus most of us will help with the cost of skillbooks and perhaps your first drake hull.
I'd like to feel like I'm contributing in some fashion, though. I've got a Caracal with three standard missile launchers (I lost my heavy missile skill book before I could inject it; I'll need to make a trip back to the empire at some point) and three heavy assault launchers.
If someone wants a little extra dps somewhere I'd be happy to accompany them. I don't think anything I've got will make a huge difference, but it should at least speed things up.
You can probably tag along with someone, but there's nothing wrong with salvaging. A lot of times people just leave the loot and such sitting there and just go to the next belt but if you salvage it then put it in a dropcan and turn it over to our Fleshreaper program they turn it into minerals for our ships (and money for you). You're helping us help each other out by providing the minerals they need to manufacture the ships we use, while still making money off of it. So don't think that salvaging isn't helping out any, we appreciate it very much.
Sounds good, but I don't know what a dropcan is or how to use one, nor where to find the other Merch pilots. I haven't seen one yet.
If I get a big 'ol energy neutralizer and a vamp to power it, will I be able to beat down a battleship, assuming I can tank its return fire?
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
Well, thanks. That's sort of disappointing, though. I guess I'll have to head back to Empire space for a while.
If you're with MerchI you don't have to go back. Train the skills to fly a battlecruiser (a drake is a very good one and would only take a few days) and while training for it you can follow a MerchI who is ratting and loot and/or salvage after them to make good money. It's what a lot of us did as newbies and it works out pretty well. Plus most of us will help with the cost of skillbooks and perhaps your first drake hull.
I'd like to feel like I'm contributing in some fashion, though. I've got a Caracal with three standard missile launchers (I lost my heavy missile skill book before I could inject it; I'll need to make a trip back to the empire at some point) and three heavy assault launchers.
If someone wants a little extra dps somewhere I'd be happy to accompany them. I don't think anything I've got will make a huge difference, but it should at least speed things up.
You can probably tag along with someone, but there's nothing wrong with salvaging. A lot of times people just leave the loot and such sitting there and just go to the next belt but if you salvage it then put it in a dropcan and turn it over to our Fleshreaper program they turn it into minerals for our ships (and money for you). You're helping us help each other out by providing the minerals they need to manufacture the ships we use, while still making money off of it. So don't think that salvaging isn't helping out any, we appreciate it very much.
Sounds good, but I don't know what a dropcan is or how to use one, nor where to find the other Merch pilots. I haven't seen one yet.
We're based in N-TFX and DKUK so try there. That and ask in corp chat if they want a newbie to follow them around, where they're at, etc.
A drop can is just a station warehouse. There's a thread on the MerchI forums explaining it.
edit: also, you'll know a MerchI member when you see one because his name will have a green box with a white star next to it. Unless you aren't in MerchI yet, then there won't be anything.
If I get a big 'ol energy neutralizer and a vamp to power it, will I be able to beat down a battleship, assuming I can tank its return fire?
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
Well, thanks. That's sort of disappointing, though. I guess I'll have to head back to Empire space for a while.
If you're with MerchI you don't have to go back. Train the skills to fly a battlecruiser (a drake is a very good one and would only take a few days) and while training for it you can follow a MerchI who is ratting and loot and/or salvage after them to make good money. It's what a lot of us did as newbies and it works out pretty well. Plus most of us will help with the cost of skillbooks and perhaps your first drake hull.
I'd like to feel like I'm contributing in some fashion, though. I've got a Caracal with three standard missile launchers (I lost my heavy missile skill book before I could inject it; I'll need to make a trip back to the empire at some point) and three heavy assault launchers.
If someone wants a little extra dps somewhere I'd be happy to accompany them. I don't think anything I've got will make a huge difference, but it should at least speed things up.
You can probably tag along with someone, but there's nothing wrong with salvaging. A lot of times people just leave the loot and such sitting there and just go to the next belt but if you salvage it then put it in a dropcan and turn it over to our Fleshreaper program they turn it into minerals for our ships (and money for you). You're helping us help each other out by providing the minerals they need to manufacture the ships we use, while still making money off of it. So don't think that salvaging isn't helping out any, we appreciate it very much.
Sounds good, but I don't know what a dropcan is or how to use one, nor where to find the other Merch pilots. I haven't seen one yet.
We're based in N-TFX and DKUK so try there. That and ask in corp chat if they want a newbie to follow them around, where they're at, etc.
A drop can is just a station warehouse. There's a thread on the MerchI forums explaining it.
edit: also, you'll know a MerchI member when you see one because his name will have a green box with a white star next to it. Unless you aren't in MerchI yet, then there won't be anything.
Ah, that explains it. I'm way on the other side of Deklein from DKUK—19 jumps away at the Overcompensation Station (some kind of dick-shaped starbase owned by Dreddit).
So I just got to N-T and I'm interested in salvaging. Do we stockpile ships and fittings or do I have to go out and purchase them? I have no idea how this works.
I finally found something I can kill. There are some cruiser-ish Guristas ships in DKUK that I can just barely compete with if they're in smaller groups. I've loaded my ship with five heavy missile launchers, and that seems to do the trick.
Many thanks to whoever imported so many skill books to our station.
So I just got to N-T and I'm interested in salvaging. Do we stockpile ships and fittings or do I have to go out and purchase them? I have no idea how this works.
There are rifters available on contract in the VFK station, you can fit a salvager to one of those if you're just starting. There'll be salvagers on the market either there or in DKUK/N-T.
What's the situation moving stuff from syndicate to deklein? I'm on the fence about resubbing, but I still have a stockpile of ships I need to sell/move.
Posts
That's because you're a dirty spy, spy!
Do we even have anything worth spying on?
Warframe/Steam: NFyt
Eventually spies just get fed up and leave
Now with 100% less Brian Kenobis!
I guess I'll grab my old frigate and see if I can make it out to Merch space. I don't know if it's the game or if I've been doing boring stuff, but lately I've been... bored.
I bought a new cruiser and outfitted it. I've since been trying to take down some pirates. They've got these damn torpedoes that can hit me at 100km, and although I can tank one battleship indefinitely I cannot damage it in return.
I think once I get heavy missiles trained I'll try again (after replacing these crappy railguns; dual 150mm guns barely seem to scratch destroyers).
Yeah, you can't do a whole lot of ratting (if any) in a cruiser here. You'll need a battlecruiser at least, I've been using a Drake and it's pretty damn good for it so you might look into that.
Also, what's our general political situation? I know we're part of the Goonion. We seem to be allied with Dreddit as well (I've been using one of their stations without getting shot at, anyway, in 0.0 space). There's some kind of French-ish federation that seems to be on our side, too, though I could be wrong about that. They seem to have a high standing with us, if that means anything.
There isn't a whole lot to do to make isk except following someone who's ratting and looting their wrecks and salvaging (once you train that up), scamming people, and sometimes you can loot stuff while on ops. You can probably easily go on ops as soon as you train into flying a Rifter and some basic tackling skills. Then, if you survive (or if you died close enough to where your clone is located at) you can loot some of the wrecks after the battle.
Cruisers are just plain bad at making money in 0.0, but if you can fly one, then you are within a day or two at most from flying a battlecruiser anyway. The ability of BC's to fit cruiser size weapons makes them really easy to put together as well.
In the 2-3 days it takes to train up a drake though, your options are regretfully limited to salvaging, or running lvl 1-2 pirate missions in venal. The oversaturation of gurista mods makes missions a bit less attractive, but salvaging requires you to ask someone if you can have their anomaly once their done. So just have a little patience, and you'll be on your own two feet in no time.
As for politics, we live in arguably one of the safest regions in Eve. The french alliance you mention is TCF, they have helped goons for many years, and are stepping to the side now because of internal problems, giving us deklein. You'll run into other residents of deklein that are staying as per the wishes of TCF as well. They are TNT, BCA, and OWN. They're minor players, but do their part to keep the space secure and utilize the resources. Dreddit, we'll they're dreddit
On the bigger scale, we live in the "north" of eve. It is controlled by a coalition of alliances called, well, the "Northern Coalition." It's arguably the strongest entity in eve currently, and is lead by Morsus Mihi, and Razor. Two long time friends of Goons.
Hostile alliances you will find that roam through our space are Ev0ke (nazis), dead terrorists (generic nobodies), and d00m (~elite pvp'ers). Under the current game mechanics they essentially cannot take our space, but like to make life miserable when they can. Just watch local, and the surveillance channels, and you won't get blown up.
Finally, if you need any help getting into your first BC, just ask in corp chat, we'll be glad to help with the cash.
Fell waaay behind while I asked how to get through a POS JB (right click the capacitor? really? I mean, I remember reading it now, but how unintuitive is that?!?), but I caught back up in time to see the action and get the point on target.
Good times, if a bit light on the fighting.
I guess we're still gonna have to spend a lot of time shooting stations and babysitting TCUs, but that's what eve online hold'em is for.
What race of ships should I be training, primarily? I picked Caldari almost at random and so far that's where almost all of my (admittedly few) skill points have gone. The Rifter is Minmatar, I believe, and the Stabber sounds like a Minmatar name too. Are Minmatar ships more useful overall? Caldari ships seem reasonably well-balanced so far (although it's hard to shield-tank with such a low power output). I have trouble keeping everything at range, though.
Lets just say: All ships have their place (save a very few that just out right suck compared to their racial equals), and no race is "wrong". Except Gallente, those ships suck right now in most PvP situations. Minmatar is favored for PvP, but Caldari have their place.
I gotta say, I just took a break from Eve, came back and finally joined Merchi, I should have done this a long time ago, even after a few days, it's pretty hilarious and fun.
I've been playing around in BC hulls to get an idea of where I want to go long term, as they give the basic experience of the race (Amarr armor tank + Lasers, Caldari shields + missiles, Minnie EVERYTHING, Gallente moar drones, etc). I don't regret training 3/4 racial cruiser skills to 3, and won't regret the fourth one, even with my low SPs.
Beyond that, read as much stuff as you can to get ideas on where you want to go, and fly a bunch of different stuff to see what you like. Save T2 weapon training until you know where you want to start.
I tried swapping my turrets for heavy assault missile launchers but I still couldn't scratch the damn thing.
Not if you're in a cruiser, they don't have enough high slots and capacitor to out damage the battleship's tank AND hold their own tank.
If you're with MerchI you don't have to go back. Train the skills to fly a battlecruiser (a drake is a very good one and would only take a few days) and while training for it you can follow a MerchI who is ratting and loot and/or salvage after them to make good money. It's what a lot of us did as newbies and it works out pretty well. Plus most of us will help with the cost of skillbooks and perhaps your first drake hull.
Yeah, never head back to Empire. There is ALWAYS a way to make isk and have fun out in 0.0 while you wait for skills to train. Giving up is the worst possible answer
If someone wants a little extra dps somewhere I'd be happy to accompany them. I don't think anything I've got will make a huge difference, but it should at least speed things up.
You can probably tag along with someone, but there's nothing wrong with salvaging. A lot of times people just leave the loot and such sitting there and just go to the next belt but if you salvage it then put it in a dropcan and turn it over to our Fleshreaper program they turn it into minerals for our ships (and money for you). You're helping us help each other out by providing the minerals they need to manufacture the ships we use, while still making money off of it. So don't think that salvaging isn't helping out any, we appreciate it very much.
We're based in N-TFX and DKUK so try there. That and ask in corp chat if they want a newbie to follow them around, where they're at, etc.
A drop can is just a station warehouse. There's a thread on the MerchI forums explaining it.
edit: also, you'll know a MerchI member when you see one because his name will have a green box with a white star next to it. Unless you aren't in MerchI yet, then there won't be anything.
I'll start making my way to DKUK.
Many thanks to whoever imported so many skill books to our station.
There are rifters available on contract in the VFK station, you can fit a salvager to one of those if you're just starting. There'll be salvagers on the market either there or in DKUK/N-T.