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How soon can i pvp
OuZi
Member Posts: 22
in EVE Online
i trialed this game and really liked, but before i buy id like to know about the pvp. how soon after buying the game and making a char will i be able to actually start competeing in pvp? im looking for a new MMO but the prob im having is the pvp all seems to be for high levels or everyone has put so much cash into there chars it just isnt possible to win with out a year long grind for cash.
oh and also i thought the pve was aweful here how much of that is there?
Comments
If you find a decent corp you can start pvping from day one.
Just forget about "competing". The game is not about "competing" with anyone. There will always be a bigger fish wherever you go. Its about spanking your enemy with your gang, and to do that you need specialized ships, which can be a 500k-frigate with a warpdisruptor to keep your prey in place.
In my experience when I played this game a year ago, PvP is about 2 hours looking for targets just to see them warp away when they see you. But I wasnt a pirate so maybe they see more action.
The reason for this constipated PvP atmosphere is that the death penalty in this game is easiest the biggest in any MMORPG so noone wants to risk losing their ship and modules unless they are in a cheap T1 frigate with T1 equipment.
It is quite ironic that the game that is supposedly the one that promotes PvP with a relaxed set of PvP rules (or lack thereof) also discourages from PvP with an extremely harsh death penalty.
My gaming blog
you can start pvp really soon like in the first day there alot guides that can help with ship and equipments is not that hard find place to pvp coz you can use your map for see the space traffic but when you die in pvp it can cost you alot coz you lose all your equipments also join guild that have same target or pirates or pirates fighters can help as you be in team and team are important in eve all zones under 0.5 are pvp zones you can be attacked there so watch out
hope is helpful
I was actually laughing after reading that..
If you cant afford to lose your ship, then you wont fly it, true.
BUT, at least in 0.0, and in highsec too, you can make cash fast and easy. I myself use buy- and sellorders to finance my pvp and it works quite well. As i mostly play on the weekends and then dedicate myself into pvp i can afford to lose two to three tech2-fitted interceptors (30M each) or two Battlecruisers or one Battleship without having to go farming. If i lose more, i jump into my rattingship and farm for about an hour. Thats enough to buy another interceptor, or two if im lucky.
The deathpenalty just keeps PvP to a level where you think twice before engaging your enemy, which is a good thing imo.
Start within the forst few days really just find a corp willing to teach you to PvP and the lessons should begine right away.
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Retired from: Neocron, Everquest, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, RF Online and Final Fantasy VII
Currently Playing : EvE Online.
It's hard to answer this question because the beginning of the game has changed so much since I started playing but I can tell you this much. You will need to find other players to train you in skill training and tactics. You will need a source of income (this will be easy). You will need to be prepared to die alot and learn from the encounters. The last part never changes.
IMHO, in order to be feared you will need to be able to fit a cruiser with specific T2 equipment, preferably after having done this to a frigate, all under the guidance of a good corp.
This will not take a year, and while you will need to earn money, it is not really what I would call a grind.
The PVE is only soso and is there for you to make the money (it's the grind).
Um...[e-peen]
http://www.battleclinic.com/images/battlepix/1e20e8f7dc7a9904e9ad60b9a679d4ae.jpg
[/e-peen]
Cheap? Hardly.
I have 70+ kills with that ship in PvP.
-Wrayeth
"Look, pa! I just contributed absolutely nothing to this thread!"
I was actually laughing after reading that..
If you cant afford to lose your ship, then you wont fly it, true.
BUT, at least in 0.0, and in highsec too, you can make cash fast and easy. I myself use buy- and sellorders to finance my pvp and it works quite well. As i mostly play on the weekends and then dedicate myself into pvp i can afford to lose two to three tech2-fitted interceptors (30M each) or two Battlecruisers or one Battleship without having to go farming. If i lose more, i jump into my rattingship and farm for about an hour. Thats enough to buy another interceptor, or two if im lucky.
The deathpenalty just keeps PvP to a level where you think twice before engaging your enemy, which is a good thing imo.
After having played EVE for 2.5 years and having a char with over 35 mil sp and more kills than I can count I agree 100% with Yamota.
One of the reasons for quiting EVE is the lack of real PvP, you see most players (including myself) fly around in "blobs". When we see a blob that is superior (bigger) than ours we run, this is EVE PvP in a nutshell. You end up flying around and ganking 3 day old noobs in shuttles and frigates, because they wandered into 0.0 and didn't know better.
The reason for this is the death penalty, firstly you have to grind the ISK to pay for everything. Well I had plenty of ISK so that was no problem, secondly you have to spend hours setting that ship back up again. Well I had many ships set up so that wasn't a problem, thirdly I have to spend an hour traveling solo through 0.0 to meet up with my blob again. Well that is a problem as you'll end up being wasted by another blob before you get to your destination.
Now you're gonna get the usual "fly cheap frigs/cruisers/BCs and it's not a problem". Well any EVE VET knows that flying around in a blob of T1 ships in 0.0 ain't gonna cut it versus a blob of T2 ships. Also what's the point in having all these wonderfull ships like my Curse if it's just too expensive to lose? I'm sorry but a ship worth hundreds of millions can only be lost so many times by an honest player that doesn't ebay.
EVE PvP = blob warfare. If you fly T1 cruisers then sure you'll kill that lone guy you spent 3 hours looking/waiting for but you'll be running from everyother blob in 0.0. If somone says otherwise then I'm happy for them but in 2.5 years I never heard anyone in game disagree with that statement only on forums.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Hm, then you must have been in a differen part of 0.0, as in the old north most pvp you get is your gang vs. small gank-gangs. Triumvirate regularly comes to our space in small gangs with max. 10 people and we counter that mostly with equal or a little bit greater number.
Ive senn the other thing happen, that our enemies in fountain dropped a mothership on our 10 man gang..but it mostly depends on the place you prefer to pvp.
Btw. PvP in Lowsec is quite relaxing too..we often encounter 5vs5 etc..
I was actually laughing after reading that..
If you cant afford to lose your ship, then you wont fly it, true.
BUT, at least in 0.0, and in high-sec too, you can make cash fast and easy. I myself use buy- and sellorders to finance my pvp and it works quite well. As i mostly play on the weekends and then dedicate myself into pvp i can afford to lose two to three tech2-fitted interceptors (30M each) or two Battlecruisers or one Battleship without having to go farming. If i lose more, i jump into my rattingship and farm for about an hour. Thats enough to buy another interceptor, or two if im lucky.
The deathpenalty just keeps PvP to a level where you think twice before engaging your enemy, which is a good thing imo.
After having played EVE for 2.5 years and having a char with over 35 mil sp and more kills than I can count I agree 100% with Yamota.
One of the reasons for quiting EVE is the lack of real PvP, you see most players (including myself) fly around in "blobs". When we see a blob that is superior (bigger) than ours we run, this is EVE PvP in a nutshell. You end up flying around and ganking 3 day old noobs in shuttles and frigates, because they wandered into 0.0 and didn't know better.
The reason for this is the death penalty, firstly you have to grind the ISK to pay for everything. Well I had plenty of ISK so that was no problem, secondly you have to spend hours setting that ship back up again. Well I had many ships set up so that wasn't a problem, thirdly I have to spend an hour traveling solo through 0.0 to meet up with my blob again. Well that is a problem as you'll end up being wasted by another blob before you get to your destination.
Now you're gonna get the usual "fly cheap frigs/cruisers/BCs and it's not a problem". Well any EVE VET knows that flying around in a blob of T1 ships in 0.0 ain't gonna cut it versus a blob of T2 ships. Also what's the point in having all these wonderfull ships like my Curse if it's just too expensive to lose? I'm sorry but a ship worth hundreds of millions can only be lost so many times by an honest player that doesn't ebay.
EVE PvP = blob warfare. If you fly T1 cruisers then sure you'll kill that lone guy you spent 3 hours looking/waiting for but you'll be running from everyother blob in 0.0. If somone says otherwise then I'm happy for them but in 2.5 years I never heard anyone in game disagree with that statement only on forums.
This certainly hasn't been my experience.......I find It fairly easy to fit and fly a fairly lethal T2 ship and have a lot of fun doing it. If I make a mistake and lose my ship I count it as a lesson and move on. ( this is also how I usually try out new ideas or tactics against specific ship types). I usually have a pretty good idea where a good fight can be found and with who. It's never really cost me that much isk.( I've even contracted peoples loot back to them after a fight before, if I respected them and thought they desevered it).
My really expensive ships I use in fleet and to protect assets ( I'm not going to waste my best stuff on anything else). It's give and take, and sometimes I just plain get hurt.....but over the long run I make out all right. Still, It's not like theres a targets in every system, or even every day.....(wouldn't be as exciting if there were). When things get tight I go mine omber in hi-sec for a few days....It's all good
The blob warfare/PVP sounds more like a pirate thing to me....I just never went that route.
Oh and you can win a PvP fight by getting away, most fights no matter how many skill points or gear is won by who controlled the battlefield. solo one-on-one fights amoungst relatively equal oponents is unlikely.
the pve is dull and repetitive, so you can exhaust it in a few months.
here is a bit of reading that might help you decide
mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/153471/page/1
I agree with every word. You can PvP very early if you join a good corporation, but in the end ISK is the name of the game in PvP too. Flying cheap staff is great until 2 things happen:
* if your gang is T1 you won't do much in 0.0 as it's flooded with T2
* if your gang is T2 and you bring T1, eventually you'll wonder if anyone would notice if you wouldn't join a gang at all, or if you wouldn't shoot at all because the only good thing you'll be able to do is to die when your T2 equipped mates will try to get the job done.
If you're new, there's a lot of time till this happens, but plan for this beforehand and invest in ISKmaking, it'll pay off hugely in the end. After all, why would you even continue to train your char when you can't afford to use those skills in combat.
That's how I would plan for ISK making:
1-st account - PvP char, 2-nd account - mining char.
Train miner to be able to use Hulks. In a while you'd have enough ISK to buy yourself another mining char. Place it on your PvP acct. This way you have 2 mining Hulks that can mine at the same time. 2 Mining Hulks is a lot of ISK already. Then you can actually train or buy a carrier alt. You can either stick it on one of your accounts or buy a 3-rd account (which can be payed by GTCs as you'd have enough ISK). On spare chars from those accounts you can create cyno alts. That's it - you have an independent ISK printing machine
And a capital ship pilot as a bonus.
You can die pretty much straight away. You cant realy pvp. You dont have the SP to do so, you cant fly the ships you need to.
You leave hi sec solo you are dead. Everyone is more experieced and flying better ships.
To PvP you must form a gang, the bigger the better. You fly around looking for smaller gangs. They will warp off as soon as you enter the system. If you meet a bigger gang you warp off. This goes on for hours. Its not realy PvP since you are looking for ganking chances. The fights are picked so there is no chance you will lose, not realy a test of skill. So you enter some corps space, they all hide in thier pos. You can chip away at the pos until you run out of ammo, meanwhile they call in thier friends so they outnumber you. Then they will come out but ofc you warp out now since you are outnumbered.
Eve is not a PvP game. The frequency of PvP is very low. you dont measure it in terms of your deaths per hour like real PvP games. Its all about ganking trying, to catch helpless victims. In a PvP game you expect ot be spending 90% of your time in PvP combat. In eve its under 1% the rest of the time is spent looking for victims, fleeing, gate camping or grinding ISK.
Its entirely down to the game having the most severe death penalty in any game.
Eve is special with its harsh death penalty. It forces ppl to think before they engage and minimize risk, instead of mindless slashing like in other "real PvP games" where it actually doesn't matter if you win or lose, you're still going to be resurrected in some fairy tale graveyard with all your gear and the only thing that hurts is your ego. Risking something meaningful, like time you spent getting all that gear, makes the whole PvP experience much more intense if you compare it to games where the only thing you risk is to drop a few places in the e-peen comparison ladder. This has some drawback, i.e. ppl will try to fight when they think they win. But, they can be wrong, and some ppl actually do engage when the forces are equal.
Eve is one of the few games where low skill players can be accepted into the gang of experienced guys. I don't think in "real PvP games" lvl 3 player can be found in the group of lvl 15s, or lvl 20 in the group of lvl 50's. It is also possible in Eve for a group of low level players to defeat a veteran. In other "real" games the vet would just nuke the n00bs or slash them into tiny pieces with his longsword +5, while they wouldn't penetrate his armor +3 and "Blood Dragon" Shield. Eve has a lot of pluses and some minuses, just like any other game. The OP should try it himself and make his own decision.
[e-peen]
http://www.battleclinic.com/images/battlepix/1e20e8f7dc7a9904e9ad60b9a679d4ae.jpg
[/e-peen]
Cheap? Hardly.
I have 70+ kills with that ship in PvP.
^^ gyro 2's on that thing make me sad
As for on topic stuff : You can always PvP so long as you can afford to do so. Join a corp that will supply you with t1 frigs or cruisers and you'll be fine.
the warp away option though is so much better than a wow or lineage can't run away thing.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
if I were to kill a titan tomorrow and no CCP employees showed up to say grats I would petition it.
Waiting for: the next MMO that lets me make this macro
if hp < 30 then CastSpell("heal") SpellTargetUnit("player") else CastSpell("smite") end
[e-peen]
http://www.battleclinic.com/images/battlepix/1e20e8f7dc7a9904e9ad60b9a679d4ae.jpg
[/e-peen]
Cheap? Hardly.
I have 70+ kills with that ship in PvP.
Very nice!
-iCeh
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Retired from: Neocron, Everquest, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, RF Online and Final Fantasy VII
Currently Playing : EvE Online.
You play wow don't you?
This is interesting and believable. (I'm just curious about eve now... still playing FPS and single-player RPGs mostly)
Anyway, just wandering. Why not take a lesson from Poker? Imagine sitting down to play poker, and the ONLY bet you were allowed to make was ALL-IN. The more chips you had, the less hands you would play... obviously. Hence, same thing that Yamoto is saying about Eve.
And on the flip side, imagine sitting down to play poker and the MAX bet you could ever make was 1-chip? If you had tons of chips, you would grow bored of the game, because the risk/reward for any action was so small as to be meaningless. This is what pvp is in most other mmorpg games imo.
So why not take the full lesson from poker, (a game that has been highly popular thru history, and oddly enough, is even getting espn coverage! lol).... why not take the full lesson and somehow let the players control the risk? Some game mechanic that worked like players betting in poker? Of course there are different betting rules even for poker, and different areas and encounters could implement these different betting rules. There might be some high-stakes areas, some low-max-bet areas, etc. Maybe even have some way for players to bet, call, raise, and fold etc.
As with most games, I find it's usually the 'rules' that cause more problems than the players. Players generally just want to have fun. Game-devs usually want to just play god because their real life sucks. :-)
EDIT: This thread will more than likely de-volve into trash talking and name-calling... so if you find my point interesting, carry on the discussion in the dev-corner here www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/155782
when I played this game a year ago, PvP is about 2 hours looking for targets just to see them warp away when they see you. But I wasnt a pirate so maybe they see more action.
The reason for this constipated PvP atmosphere is that the death penalty in this game is easiest the biggest in any MMORPG so noone wants to risk losing their ship and modules unless they are in a cheap T1 frigate with T1 equipment.
It is quite ironic that the game that is supposedly the one that promotes PvP with a relaxed set of PvP rules (or lack thereof) also discourages from PvP with an extremely harsh death penalty.
Yamota is giving a VERY pesimistic outlook. I'd not pay attention to the type of statements he/she is presenting since they are *not* the norm.
You can PvP when you're ready. Takes time to learn the interface, gain a ship, get to a region of space where you'll not get concordokken and it also takes time to identify a suitable target. That "time" is dependant upon you, the player, more then it has anything to do with the game its self.
Being a Pirate takes a hell of a lot more skill then flying to someone you want to shoot. It takes plenty of experiance that normally is gained through trial and error and/or through good mentorship.
Almost ever PvP battle I'm consists of a conglameration of tech 1 and tech 2 ships. Just because the t1 ships are inexpensive and generally easy to pilot does not mean they're fitted with t1 modules. More times then not you'll have pilots in cruisers with t2 and named loot.
The cycle of production in the game supports the hard penalties of failure. The entire game is built around this which is why you have may people constantly attempting to correct unknowlegable and onesided posts.
A negative picture can be painted of EVERY mmo so be wary of those, such as Yamota since his/her statements border upon slanderous, that proffess falicies. (False: 2 hours looking for targets just to see them warp away when they see you.; False: noone wants to risk losing their ship and modules unless they are in a cheap T1 frigate with T1 equipment )
If you are discouraged by a healthy Risk Vs Reward system then there's two games I should recomend for Yamota: Star Wars Galaxies and Checkers.
I was actually laughing after reading that..
After having played EVE for 2.5 years and having a char with over 35 mil sp and more kills than I can count I agree 100% with Yamota.
One of the reasons for quiting EVE is the lack of real PvP, you see most players (including myself) fly around in "blobs". When we see a blob that is superior (bigger) than ours we run, this is EVE PvP in a nutshell. You end up flying around and ganking 3 day old noobs in shuttles and frigates, because they wandered into 0.0 and didn't know better.
The reason for this is the death penalty, firstly you have to grind the ISK to pay for everything. Well I had plenty of ISK so that was no problem, secondly you have to spend hours setting that ship back up again. Well I had many ships set up so that wasn't a problem, thirdly I have to spend an hour traveling solo through 0.0 to meet up with my blob again. Well that is a problem as you'll end up being wasted by another blob before you get to your destination.
Now you're gonna get the usual "fly cheap frigs/cruisers/BCs and it's not a problem". Well any EVE VET knows that flying around in a blob of T1 ships in 0.0 ain't gonna cut it versus a blob of T2 ships. Also what's the point in having all these wonderfull ships like my Curse if it's just too expensive to lose? I'm sorry but a ship worth hundreds of millions can only be lost so many times by an honest player that doesn't ebay.
EVE PvP = blob warfare. If you fly T1 cruisers then sure you'll kill that lone guy you spent 3 hours looking/waiting for but you'll be running from everyother blob in 0.0. If somone says otherwise then I'm happy for them but in 2.5 years I never heard anyone in game disagree with that statement only on forums.
Hey Agricola1, what's your main's name? I sure in hell hope you're not in Roadkill or Smash!
We do NOT bow down to an opossing fleet mearly due to numbers. There's been quite a few times when we've been outnumbered 3:1 (we're talking Them150 vs Us50) and still come out with 4 to 5 times the kills!
There's a certain mentality in EVE that reigns true. You have to expect to give if you're going to get. There's no gain with out acceptable losses. Only cowards rant about having to risk assets to gain wealth.
If you're proactive in EVE you will NOT nescessarily experiance the shortcomings which are expressed. There are many corporations in EVE and it's a tough nut to crack when attempting to find one that's productive.
To confirm: Corporation or Alliance warfare does indeed primarily consist of the "blob". This refers to having your fleet of 30-300 ships moving in unison in preperation of the siege. It would down right idiotic to do it any other way...
p.s. some people take pride in hunting down single targets for 3 hours or more. I've read circumstances where someone's spent WEEKS trying to catch a single target; obviously a vendetta. There's also the case were the downfall of a single individuall consisted of a year long campaign of espionage and double crossing which became somewhat famous. In EVE, you chose the hand you're dealt.
I was actually laughing after reading that..
After having played EVE for 2.5 years and having a char with over 35 mil sp and more kills than I can count I agree 100% with Yamota.
One of the reasons for quiting EVE is the lack of real PvP, you see most players (including myself) fly around in "blobs". When we see a blob that is superior (bigger) than ours we run, this is EVE PvP in a nutshell. You end up flying around and ganking 3 day old noobs in shuttles and frigates, because they wandered into 0.0 and didn't know better.
The reason for this is the death penalty, firstly you have to grind the ISK to pay for everything. Well I had plenty of ISK so that was no problem, secondly you have to spend hours setting that ship back up again. Well I had many ships set up so that wasn't a problem, thirdly I have to spend an hour traveling solo through 0.0 to meet up with my blob again. Well that is a problem as you'll end up being wasted by another blob before you get to your destination.
Now you're gonna get the usual "fly cheap frigs/cruisers/BCs and it's not a problem". Well any EVE VET knows that flying around in a blob of T1 ships in 0.0 ain't gonna cut it versus a blob of T2 ships. Also what's the point in having all these wonderfull ships like my Curse if it's just too expensive to lose? I'm sorry but a ship worth hundreds of millions can only be lost so many times by an honest player that doesn't ebay.
EVE PvP = blob warfare. If you fly T1 cruisers then sure you'll kill that lone guy you spent 3 hours looking/waiting for but you'll be running from everyother blob in 0.0. If somone says otherwise then I'm happy for them but in 2.5 years I never heard anyone in game disagree with that statement only on forums.
Hey Agricola1, what's your main's name? I sure in hell hope you're not in Roadkill or Smash!
We do NOT bow down to an opossing fleet mearly due to numbers. There's been quite a few times when we've been outnumbered 3:1 (we're talking Them150 vs Us50) and still come out with 4 to 5 times the kills!
There's a certain mentality in EVE that reigns true. You have to expect to give if you're going to get. There's no gain with out acceptable losses. Only cowards rant about having to risk assets to gain wealth.
If you're proactive in EVE you will NOT nescessarily experiance the shortcomings which are expressed. There are many corporations in EVE and it's a tough nut to crack when attempting to find one that's productive.
To confirm: Corporation or Alliance warfare does indeed primarily consist of the "blob". This refers to having your fleet of 30-300 ships moving in unison in preperation of the siege. It would down right idiotic to do it any other way...
p.s. some people take pride in hunting down single targets for 3 hours or more. I've read circumstances where someone's spent WEEKS trying to catch a single target; obviously a vendetta. There's also the case were the downfall of a single individuall consisted of a year long campaign of espionage and double crossing which became somewhat famous. In EVE, you chose the hand you're dealt.
What about Roadkill/Smash?
I know we in Smash have a rule of no T1 frigs in pvp because we should be able to afford something better. On the other hand just the other night out of pure fun they formed a fleet of battlehaulers and got a few Battleship kills. That was very funny. Any real battle though the no t1 frig rule stands.
As for using cheap ships or expensive. By all means expensive ships give you a huge advantage. It mostly just comes down to what YOU can afford to loose. Also the situation. When things get suicidal you might not want to bring the ship fitted with billions of isk of faction items. Then again if your totally rich, whats it matter.
As for when you can start to pvp? Day 1. You can have fun in pvp from day 1. Just don't expect to be uber.
As for pvp being hours to find 1 target. That just depends where you are. Eve's universe is HUGE. Some areas are hotzones for war, some are not. Action is NEVER hard to find if you look in the right places.
Also remember. PVP in EVE is 1 not a must. If your smart you can always avoid a fight.
Eve pvp is mostly not 1v1. Don't go into Eve expecting to make some uber solo character. You can become very effective in pvp helping your fleet and in small gangs very early on.
Break away from the normal MMO mentality and eve will keep you like it has me.
As for eve not being a "real pvp game" You my sir are completely full of it. There are thousands of deaths thoughout eve in pvp daily. There are usually about 20-30 thousand people on 1 Server at any given time. Wow may have millions but it dont have a quarter of that on 1 server. Infact there has been thousands of deaths in single battles. In eve you don't just respawn near the battle so you don't have that annoyance of people just coming right back to the fight. You loose your ship and everything it was fitted with. You can loot your enemys wreck. There is loss, and gain from pvp. It's not "safe" like the others. Which are my favorite parts.
Eve is the mmo with the most open and realistic pvp by far. It has "safer" zones, but if you want to get suicidal you can attack someone in these high security areas.
p.s. My name is E Vile in game if anyone has any questions.
SHOHADAKU
Holy Smokes!
I can't help but laugh, what the hell do you consider "real pvp" games, Unreal!?! Or maybe you consider the PvP in World of Warcraft as "real". My goodness...
reading this posts makes me wonder at times if people actually played EVE before saying anything.
PVP is extremely frequent in the EVE sense. My friends in solid alliances are constantly fighting to defend their territories. While my new char is still in empire space, I have seen my fair share of PVP.
PVP can happen in any sector including 1.0 systems. It doesn't matter what you're flying, if you're looking for a fight, you will get one. I wouldn't PVP in a T1 frigate but I have seen 1 million SP players fights the odd and win. I usually pvp in cheap T2 frigates or battlecruisers and been pvping since I reached the 3 million SP or so. Hence, I knew what I was going for and quickly specialized in what I needed but that doesn't change the fact that all this information can be found with ease on eve forums.
I'm not a pirate... sadly... I wish I was but I decided to join a nice corp and work with them to one day have a nice fleet. However, I know quite a few pirates that usually get their fair share of killing each night. As for death penality, it is quite a joke if you do it right. It's not hard to generate a steady income and stack up some weapons and modules. I admit, if I lost 3 battleships in a row, I would probably be back doing L4 missions to work the wallet back but seriously, no pain, no gain.
EVE has some good PVP if you know what you're doing. If you took the time to read the forums a bit, made some friends and specially learned how to fly your ship. It's also important to learn how to pick your targets. I wouldn't go hunt sharks with a little fishing rode if you know what I mean.
Don't get me wrong, when I said PVP is frequent in EVE sense, this means that you might spend an entire week without any action but for me, that's cool as it gives me the chance to make some ISK and fit more ships. If you're looking for constant PVP then you might have to look for another game but if you're looking for quality battles that actually require some brain then this is the game for you.