Trust is a weakness

Due to the "adapt or die" mentality that prevails in EVE, trust is often seen as a weakness. It is a point in itself. You dont just easily trust the stranger you just met down the alleyway to help you in carrying a heavy load. Who knows, he could easily just brandish a knife and stick you. All deities above (and below), I hope that never happens to you, dear readers, but it stresses a point that you should be careful in day-to-day dealings with people in real life, and also in EVE because of the fact that they can easily take you down to the point of insignificance as well as help you reach great heights.

So, to help aspirant capsuleers in their future careers, simple tips of safety in EVE:

1. Never accept gang invites unless you are absolutely sure the other person/s in the gang are friendly/trustworthy. There's currently a nasty loophole in where if a gang has members of two opposing corporations currently in a CONCORD-sanctioned war, anyone added into the gang is free-game for all, and thus can be killed without CONCORD provocation.

(CONCORD btw, is the NPC "police" of EVE. They only provide consequences, not safety, in higher-security space)

2. Get into a corporation that you are sure you can trust to take care of you. Many make it their game-life's work to train aspirant capsuleers in the ways of EVE. Others may trick you into coming into their corp so they can just shoot you (which is legal for player corporations), in which case you can leave (and if they do use tricks to keep you in the corp, you can petition for game harassment).

3. Once in low-security space, always expect trouble. If traveling through untrusted space, have a corpmate scout ahead of you, and if possible, have combat ship escorts from your corp as well. Its fun too, especially if everyone in the corp benefits from your travel.

4. Use the map and its many filters. The map can tell you of combat activity well before you arrive. The show ship kills in the last hour and show pod kills in the last hour are two of the most powerful filter settings you can use to plot ahead when in unsafe space.

5. Learn how to use the directional scanner. The scanner is a vital tool in checking whats up ahead and whats around you. You can scan as far as 14.5 Au with the directional scanner. A common trick is to warp close enough to your intended destination (but not at), and, if close enough, scan your destination for possible ships. If there are, assume they're hostile, even if it's a shuttle or a industrial ship. They can still give intel to other capsuleers who do have combat ship to hunt you down.

6. Play smart. Use your head in planning and doing what you want to do in EVE. Trusting people in EVE is a risk, which can either lead to great success, or great failure. Corporation spying is everywhere, and so is corp theft. Think ahead on your next course of action and see if its safe enough for all parties involved. The less risk, the better.


Now, what about being part of a good corporation? What can you do to help everyone's success and your own? Thats for the next post.