The Blacksheep Pilots of EVE

“To be successful in EVE, and the only way to have fun, is to join a corporation as soon as possible.”

“If you're a newbie to the game, you'll want to join a corporation straight away.”

“EVE is not a solo game. There is no soloing at all. YOU DO NOT SOLO! Conquering the universe is best done in groups.”

Sound familiar?  In nearly any forum or chat discussion, guide for newbies, or review, invariably you will find something similar to the above statements.  The general consensus in the EVE community is that you do not solo, and if you do, you will be owned at every turn, never learn how to play the game ‘properly’, and generally just have a terrible time.  I wonder how many gamers who prefer solo play just looked elsewhere for their gaming enjoyment based on this type of misleading ‘gospel advise’.

EVE can in fact be played solo.  There.  I said it.  I’ll probably be hunted down as a heretic and sold to Amarrian slavers, but this lie had to be exposed.  I play EVE solo and have done so since day one, two years ago.  With my crew of nine characters I enjoy the same things as every corp member does… I play the market, I research and manufacture, I mine roids, I run missions, I do contracts (both sides), I rat, I haul & smuggle, I go bounty hunting, I engage in piracy of nearly every kind, I explore, I run a PI enterprise, I scan-down anomalies, I experiment with various ship fittings, I PvE and PvP, I engage in conversations in chat channels, and I even join gangs on occasion for roams and other activities, and I plan on eventually joining in on some of the Incursion fights and maybe doing some faction warfare in the future.  And one of my characters, the one whom you see on this blog, is nearing the day when he’ll enter his first wormhole.  And all of this is solo. 

I’ve set up two personal corporations whose members are my characters and my brother’s (who has been on hiatus for the past eight months but pops in once in awhile for a few days).  Eventually, I may start taking applications and actually let others join me, but it’s not absolutely necessary since I’m having a lot of fun right now.  I’ve always been a solo-type player in every MMO I’ve played.  Usually after a year or two though, I’ll form a guild (only ever joined one and regretted it) and enjoy that aspect of the game too.  But EVE is a bit different in this respect.  You CAN enjoy everything in the game without EVER being a member of a corporation.  You can even find the occasional huge fleet battle that accepts help from outsiders, especially if you already know someone in that corp.

Playing solo though is not for the faint-hearted.  It can be tough at times.  You have to play smart and keep a low profile.  Actually, by posting this blog article, I'm taking a risk in that if the wrong people see it and realize that I'm a loner, I could be in trouble.  If you play nonchalantly or just plain crazy and antagonize the wrong people, you’re liable to get wardec’d (if you've set up your own personal corp as I have) or anger someone enough to have entire corporations (or alliances) hunting you.  You have to be on your toes at all times because you have no backup to come to your rescue.  But even if you become the hunted, you can survive and have fun by viewing it as an additional challenge that few get to experience.  That’s what makes EVE so unique in the gaming world even among the games that claim to be sandboxes.  In EVE, ANYTHING is possible!  There is nothing set in stone, besides the rules that govern the game mechanics themselves.  If you want it bad enough and have the guts, time, and imagination to put your ideas into motion, there is nothing in EVE that you can’t do.  That holds true especially for the solo player.

In a future blog, I’ll be posting a guide for the solo player of EVE.  Noob or Vet, if you want to try something really new in the way of adventure and challenge, try soloing in the EVE universe.  It is not only possible, it’s fun, and there’s just simply nothing like it in today’s MMO gaming world.

~~~ Spyke