Written by: Felix Othello Moradius
Ok, so please have patience since this is the first time I have ever written anything like this since leaving school. Which was a while ago!
Let us not ‘beat about the bush’… EVE is HUGE! There is so much to do and see and just when you think that you might have seen it all, the various communities blow your mind and the game opens up even more in amazing and entertaining ways!
I am sure you will have read or heard the comment of ‘EVE has a learning cliff rather than curve’.
Yep, it’s a fair point!
So when jumping head first into this pool of confusion, excitement, harsh realities, real time trading floor and scams (There are a lot!), what better first tentative steps could you take than finding a mentor or tutor? A helpful guide to steer you in the abyss you no doubt feel you face!
This, dearest reader; is where EVE UNI, (queue the fanfares) steps up to the plate.
A welcoming beacon of light, through the mist of perplexity. As I first started playing EVE, I very quickly was told about the University from multiple people in chat suggesting me to join it. Quite the reputation I thought. I set about trawling the web for details of them and was very pleased how quickly I had a WEALTH of info at my fingertips!
EVE UNI is extremely good at setting up the newest of players with detailed instructions, general info and guidance. They make it easier to just ‘get it’ from the beginning.
I promptly decided “I’m having a bit of this” and dived in with both feet and put in an application.
After a brief wait (they must get lots of people to apply) and a short; “hi, how are you? Tell us a bit about yourself. Are you an axe wielding maniac?” and that’s it…. I was a part of something great. I could feel it in my waters.
There are more ways to stay in touch with fellow UNI chums than I could shake a stick at if I needed anything.
(I haven’t tried shaking a stick, some are bigger than me…and hairy…and own dogs…)
The community offered me mentoring, written guidance and in-game support. There are even actual lessons and talks for crying out loud… Visuals and everything *Excitedly waving hands around*
I think I would have to physically try not to absorb and learn from this lot!
I made some great tentative connections with people right away and they reach out to me often, which I love. Hey, we all like a little attention sometimes right 😉
But also, the nice thing is; if you’re having a bit of “a day” and want to fly around running missions and not talk at all that’s cool too.
There are no stern, “you have to be here and do this and contribute this that and the other” etc.
I have made, what I think will be the makings of great, slightly unstable, gloriously varied friendships. Which is normally by no means easy for me!
I have checked out shared musical tastes, seen people’s great pictures, real life and in-game!
I have checked in with people I do not know just to say hi and chat. I have been given a ‘leg up’ by a couple of amazing complete strangers and made to feel welcome in an inclusive, diverse universe which, in so many ways, emulates the real world almost exactly and yet manages to be a million miles from real in other ways!
If you are interest in applying for EVE University, have a look here: https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Applying_to_EVE_University