Notes for Experienced RPG Players New to EVE: Difference between revisions

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 Thankfully, you're not missing much. While explosions can be very beautiful (in the aesthetic sense, not just metaphorically), EVE is not a game for people who enjoy flashy combat. While ships do show signs of damage, they don't explode until they're actually destroyed. Most weapons are practically invisible: hybrid and projectile turrets show little more than muzzle flash, and drones are generally relegated to tiny purple icons flitting across the screen. Laser weapons do have a tendency to turn a computer screen into a light show in large numbers, and missiles can be seen launching and streaking away from their point of origin, but for the most part EVE combat is about reacting to numbers on the screen.
-==Solar Systems are not Zones.==
+==EVE "geography" isn't organized around character power level.==
-Most online role-playing games have a geography organized as a system of zones. Each zone includes non-player characters whose level lies in a small range, and quests in those zones focus on combat with those NPCs. As a player's character "levels up" it moves from one zone to the next and begins to meet stronger opponents. On the other hand, EVE solar systems are connected by "hyper-space jump gates" in a network that permits travel across the EVE galaxy. There are no restrictions; you can go anywhere that you want to, and a solar system will contain characters with a wide range of abilities. ([[#Solar_Systems_are_not_Zones._2|MORE]])
-EVE's solar systems are connected by "hyper-space jump gates" in a network that permits travel across the EVE galaxy. In addition, there are some special portals, "wormholes", for example, that lead to locations not reachable by the jump gate network. You can go anywhere that you want to, and the built in [[Star_Map|Map]] makes travel fairly easy to organize.
+Most online role-playing games have a geography organized as a system of zones that cater to characters of a certain power level. Higher-level zones may be completely inaccessible to low-level characters, and even when low-level characters ''are'' able to enter high-level zones, such zones are often extremely deadly and impossible to survive at low levels. Game worlds constructed in this way often have a geographical layout that facilitates smooth progression from low-level areas to high-level areas.
+The world of EVE is composed of thousand of solar systems, which are organized into constellations and regions. Characters traverse between solar systems using the "jump gate" network, wormholes, or specialized "jump drives" or "jump bridges". While there a sometimes ship size restrictions to travel (and remember that [[#EVE combat is a game of physics.|bigger is not necessarily better]]), characters have access to the entire game world immediately upon completing the tutorial. You can go anywhere that you want to, and a solar system will contain characters with a wide range of ships and abilities.
+Solar systems do have a "[Security Level]]" value which determines the relative power of NPCs found there, as well as the presence and capability of [[CONCORD]], the NPC peacekeeping force. In high-security (highsec) space, PvP is illegal outside of [[War Declaration|designated "war" mechanics]], and CONCORD will punish characters who attack other characters indiscriminately. In low-security (lowsec) space, CONCORD has no presence beyond sentry turrets around space stations and jump gates. In null-security (nullsec) space, there is no CONCORD presence, and players may engage in any activity they wish without fear of punishment. While more skilled players and characters have better means to survive in areas of space with lower security levels, there is very little that makes lower-security space inherently more dangerous, as the only things more powerful by default (NPCs) are easily avoided and often must be specifically sought out.
 Except for "security" restrictions, there is no limit to combat in any solar system. Security is provided by CONCORD, the EVE government police force, and each system is labeled with a CONCORD "[[Security_Level|security level]]". These range from 1.0 (maximally secure) through 0.5 (lightly patrolled) to 0.0 (not patrolled at all) – and further down to negatively numbered totally lawless systems which can be insanely dangerous. These systems are loosely labeled "hisec" (1.0-0.5), "lowsec" (0.4-0.0), and "nulsec" (below 0).