Every player has a role to help them meet their goals.

And those goals are met via your corporation.

All EVE Online players are divided into groups known as “corporations.” Simply put, a corporation is a collection of individuals organized with a particular purpose or goal in mind. Corporations are comparable to “clans” in most other online games.

Alliances are groups of corporations.

Corporations consist of anywhere between a single pilot or hundreds of pilots. Alliances work the same way, encompassing anywhere from two to dozens or even hundreds of corporations.

Corporations and alliances are run much like companies or teams are organized and run in the real world, with a single leader or board of directors crafting policy, rules, operations, and incentives for the corporation members to participate on or by which they are guided. A tax rate can be imposed on any income over $100,000 received by pilots of the corporation, and this tax helps to fund corporate operations and pay expenses (like rental fees).

Corporations establish their legitimacy by setting up “offices” in stations or headquarters in Citadels. Both allow the corporation to gain a foothold and set up station hangars to store and share items and ships between members. Some members may be assigned certain roles in the corporation that gives them access to certain items or features (such as auditors to review records, access to item boxes and hangars, and the ability to recruit or remove members). Alliances operate in similar fashion, and can claim sovereignty and territory in null-security space.

A pilot can join a corporation simply by reviewing a corporation’s profile page and clicking “Join.” Much like a traditional job, a pilot’s application may be reviewed by a recruiter, who may contact the pilot with a series of questions. Joining alliances requires some more finesse and political engagement. Diplomatic representatives and CEOs will often engage each other in dialogue to discuss joining or forming alliances. In the case of null-sec alliances, the dialogue will be more in-depth and may come with concessions, business deals, or territorial exchanges.

Once you join a corporation, your profile and employment history will change to reflect your enlistment into said corporation. You may have access to certain parts of the corporation’s office and hangar if those are available. As a corporation member, you will gain access to Corporate chat, allowing you to communicate directly with your corporation members. If the corporation is part of an Alliance, you will gain access to Alliance chat, and any hangars and structures the alliance has set up, if the access is permitted.

As a corporation and even alliance member, you will be able to participate in alliance fleets and operations. Some major alliances may even impose a certain number of hours of flight time as a requirement for remaining in the alliance. Participation in fleet operations for some null-sec alliances is a requirement to maintain enlistment.

Goals and missions of corporations vary between groups. Some may be mercenary bands which hire out their combat services to those in need of protection (or removing their adversaries). Others may be industrial groups of miners and manufacturers. Others may be social groups who mostly talk and roam the stars. Others may be pirate bands who engage anyone who is foolish enough to stumble into their space.

Corporations and alliances are as diverse as the player base, and all share one major goal: bring pilots together, to fly together, and to play the game that has made all of us immortal.

Experimenting with the Randomizer button was pretty cool! On my very first press, I ended up creating the "Sharp Edges" pattern for the Scorpion. Note the blood splatter at the edges.

I ended up crafting some really wild patterns!

EVE is pretty – let’s show it off!

I’m a photographer at heart, and I love taking screenshots. Let’s see what kind of photography skills our fellow pilots have got!

Take a great-looking screenshot of anything in EVE; be it a station, sun, planet, formation, ships, and the like. Let’s see what this amazing universe is all about.

Maybe there’s some forgotten corner of EVE that needs to be brought back into the light? Perhaps there is a climactic battle in progress that is worth the front-page news? What about inside the stations and Citadels? Does your ship look pretty in the pale blue light? Show it off and let’s see some awesome screenshots!

Pilots can take screenshots and have them judged for composition, lighting, color, activity, and the like. Of course, the organizers of the reward would be the judges to see what screenshots look pretty and amazing, and of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder – but seeing as how vast this universe is, there must be something out there in some corner of EVE that is worth showing off and will make a judge lose their words over how amazing this game looks.

Want to get rich quickly? Here’s the dirty secret – you can, if you sell your soul!

Seriously; one mistake that people make in EVE Online is when they hear someone bragging about how much money they’ve made in a single hour, they forget that raking in that kind of cash takes significant investment in both time and money. The kind of wealth that would buy capital ships (or PLEX at this rate) takes time, ISK, investment, knowhow, skill, and maybe a little luck, all combined into one. It especially takes consistency and diversity.

Likewise, the term ‘quickly’ is relative to the individual, depending on how desperate and driven they are for ISK.

If one wants to truly get rich in EVE, it’s a good idea to diversify one’s portfolio, and treat it seriously. This means having multiple streams of income, such as missions, salvaging, planetary infrastructure, mining skills, and the pursuit of some kind of activity that can not only keep you engaged, but also reward you for your time and effort on a relatively consistent basis.

Sure, you might find a billion-ISK item while traversing a wormhole, but if you find that item once a month (or longer), that kind of ISK might run out before you know what to do with it. And if that becomes your only activity and doesn’t yield consistent profit, you’re going to end up driven to pursue some other path.

Sure, you could descend into the dark rabbit hole of scamming people in trade hubs, but will you be able to sleep at night? Will you be proud of yourself and your ill-gotten gains?

One component of EVE is the balance of time-to-profit and risk-versus-reward; high-risk means high-reward; lengthy investment and improved skills typically yield greater profit, or at least raises your chances of higher profit.

If one is just starting out, mining, missions, and selling the salvage from both are good starter pursuits, which can generate a good income as you improve your skills and performance.

Longtime veterans might run more advanced missions, Incursions, Agency events, or PVP and sell the dropped high-yield gear.

Personally? I fly Incursions, but I’ve also been flying Incursions since 2013 almost non-stop; I’ve made investments to prepare for and pursue Incursions no matter where they strike in the cluster. And I am rewarded handsomely for my time.

EVE Online is what you make it. It is Job 2.0, or a great way to relax with new friends. It is a grind towards success, or a new way to soar into your dreams of setting fire to the stars. EVE is you, and everyone you meet.

Trust in the rust of the Minmatar Republic!

Each empire specializes in a particular doctrine (Gallente utilize armor and hybrids, Caldari use missiles and shields, Amarr use lasers and armor), but it is the Minmatar that distinguish themselves with two particular aspects: flexibility and adaptability.

Minmatar ships can adopt both shields and armor defenses, allowing them a level of versatility that other empires sorely lack. Their ammunition selection can also fire all damage types. Therefore, they can adapt to any mission and any enemy, if they know their strength and weaknesses. Their weapons also do not require any capacitor usage whatsoever, allowing them to better allocate that energy to more demanding modules such as neutralizers and armor repair systems. Their speed and maneuverability are relatively unmatched.

There is also a fun factor in flying Minmatar ships that no other ship offers. I once read in a few pilot biographies a quote which read to the effect of “Flying Minmatar is like riding a wheelie chair down a flight of stairs while dual-wielding AK-47s on full-auto.” Firing 800mm Gatling Guns is reminiscent of flying the GAU-8 Avenger 30mm of an A-10 Thunderbolt II as it shreds any target, even small frigate-sized craft. A full rack of 1400mm howitzers can drop a target’s shields in a single volley. Albeit the lengthy reload time, the realization that comes with facing Minmatar battleships sporting howitzer artillery cannons is an intimidating moment for any enemy captain.

This fun factor also comes from the sensation of flying ships of an empire that is constantly trying to prove itself as legitimate, especially in the wake of achieving victory. Mainly, the allure of the iconic Rifter still follows that ship, even twenty years into EVE Online’s history. No other ship carries the sensation of flying it into combat quite life the Rifter, and quite like Minmatar ships.

We can talk for an endless time of the most impressive in-game moment in our history, but for me, it’s the activities we do outside the game that really impress me.

Beyond the year-long display of EVE Online in the New York Museum of Modern Art (2013-2014) and even the standing monument outside of CCP headquarters (a monument which is considered a nationally protected landmark by the government of Iceland), it is the players’ capacity to come together in the face of tragedy that really makes us shine and stand out amongst every other videogame.

Two things come to mind: PLEX For Good and Sean Smith.

PLEX For Good is a charity drive wherein CCP partners up with the Icelandic Red Cross and other relief organizations to help raise money for their choice organizations whenever a major international disaster strikes. The drive focuses on players donating timecards and PLEX back to CCP, and in return, CCP donates the equivalent amount of real-world money following conversion to the Icelandic Red Cross or other relief program. The initiative first began in 2005 following the tsunami in Southeast Asia, raising over $25,000. The contributions for almost every PLEX For Good drive have increased in amount, with well over $700,000 donated up until 2022. That year, PLEX For Good was held to raise money to support relief efforts in the Ukraine following the Russian invasion. In 2022, over $500,000 was raised, smashing apart every other record set during the PLEX For Good drive. The initiative continued into 2023, and continues to reward contributing capsuleers with apparel for their avatars.

Sean Smith was Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. State Department. He was one of the four individuals killed on September 11, 2012, during the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. He was also a major diplomat (and some consider the number-two-man) to the Goonswarm alliance. Stories of Sean Smith speak of his tenacity at establishing the equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency in Goonswarm, as a major espionage and spy network which monitored rival alliances. There has even been talk that Sean Smith as “Vilerat” was responsible for engineering the dissolution of the former Band Of Brothers. Sean Smith was a friend to developers and even made an appearance at Fanfest on the Council of Stellar Management.

Upon news of his death circulating amongst the EVE Online community, tributes from friends, fellow pilots, and developers poured in. CCP at Fanfest the following year held a tribute to Sean Smith during their presentations. The iconic lighting-of-the-cynos memorial ceremony was held by capsuleers. Outposts throughout null-sec were renamed in Vilerat’s honor. Likewise, the EVE Online and Something Awful communities came together to raise money and provide donations for Sean Smith’s family, to the tunes of $127,000. Some of these pilots had never met Sean Smith/Vilerat in person, but had merely flown with him during his time in EVE Online.

In both of these cases, all of this money and these contributions were brought forth over the community coming together in the course of a videogame. I know of only one other gaming platform that has ever come close to this kind of charitable activity, and it is us as the player base who are centrally responsible for setting EVE Online apart from its counterparts.

We as the EVE Online community are what is truly impressive. Remember this always, and fly safe!

Over the years, I’ve seen Local Chat serve as both an intelligence-gathering tool and a place to converse with fellow pilots.

In my view, it serves the dual-purpose, but of course depends on where you are.

In a wormhole, it is clearly an intelligence-gathering tool, as anyone who speaks reveals themselves. For a time, the great Blackout experiment of 2020 of turning null-sec Local Chat into a wormhole-styled chat was tested, but lasted for merely a few months. In null-sec especially, Local Chat serves as an intelligence-gathering tool, as most null-sec alliance communications are confined to Corps and Alliance chat.

In high-sec, however, especially in trade hubs, Local Chat is used (or hijacked) for advertisement of products. It’s mostly chat bots seemingly…

During events, Local Chat is utilized by developer actors to engage with the player base.

In training systems, however, Local Chat serves as a critical component for brand-new pilots to reach out for help. We need Local Chat especially for our new pilots, and for our pilots in general, to provide them a space to converse with their fellow capsuleers, especially when they have no other options or are desperate for help.

It’s saved me in a pinch – it can save you.