After finishing the initial tutorial, you'll probably have a small amount of money built up. But you can't rest on that, you have to step out into the big time. While there are many different career paths you can choose, the safest and surest way of building up an account is mining. It may not be the daredevil's idea of a sport, but a bit of planning can make mining almost bearable!

The Ships

Starting out in Eve, you'll own a ship whose quality depends on the race you belong to. In bigger scheme of things, however, it doesn't really make too much of a difference where you loyalties lie. Whatever it is, you still can't call the neighbors to brag as yet!

Your sweet ride will come locked and loaded with civilian grade weapons and a basic mining laser is not exactly the firepower to fight your way out of trouble. So, keep upgrades in mind when you do get some ISKs flowing.

The Pirates and Bullies

Smart guys stay well clear of the big kids. The veterans know that newbies don't exactly pack a punch. So, like the mean guys before them, they will gleefully teach you a few lessons about the circle of life even without your invitation!

High security level, of about 0.8 to 1.0 means that it is safe enough for the new guys to go about their business without being constantly paranoid about pirates.

Newbies should make sure they don't head straight off to more than five gate jumps. Plus, a region with a less than 30 other players would be great. Of course, having a zone to yourself would be the best of all.

The Ores-Don't Drool!

It would be a headache to try and remember the ores and their values, but as a rule of the thumb it can be handy and easy to remember that the ores values are in the set in alphabetical order, with a few exceptions (Spodumain etc.). So basically, as you go lower in the alphabets the ore values decrease as well.

Veldspar and Scordite can virtually be mined in any region. However, Kernite and Pyroxeres is specific to Amarr space. Similarly, Plagioclase and Omber can be mined in Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar space.

Don't drool over the ore you mine. As a matter of fact, some ores are more valuable than others, but time is more valuable than anything else. Besides, if you ever read the news, then you'll have read about 'blood diamonds' and 'gold rushes,' but never about 'conflict aluminum' or 'blood copper.' At the beginning of the twentieth century, the world's richest man was Andrew Carnegie, and he built his fortune on iron and steel. Build yours on speed, thrift, and efficiency!

The Regions-To Risk or Not to Risk

As a rule, the low security areas have more valuable ores than higher security levels. The 0.0 rating is actually anything from 0.0 to 1.0, but to keep the ores hidden the information is never displayed to give any hints.

Low security area stations usually pay higher for your ore than high security areas. But there are risks attached to this profit making scheme. Firstly you'll be in an area where there won't be any patrol guards to watch your back while you do the digging. So there will be all the more risk of being 'podded' while you are at work!

Secondly, though the ores will be more valuable and the prices will be high, but guys running the security in the region will have to be paid their share as well. So the hidden costs have to be kept in mind when you decide make big ISKs.

Group Mining

Interact with other players is the beauty of an MMORPG. Mining is a job you can do in groups as well. A well planned party can in fact make it a more than worthwhile effort if they stick to their tasks.

To mine in groups, the first thing has to assigning roles to individuals. The player attributes matter a lot in this so the better miners should always be mining instead of hauling the ores to the stations. While the military minded individuals can add a lot of security to your group's profits.

For security, it is important that the guard's ship is well equipped to handle pirates and NPCs alike. And while there is nothing else to do, the guard should always give a helping hand in the mining to max the yield!

A Tip or Two

• The Planning- Use Bookmarks

  After checking for potential pirate threats, pick an asteroid and plan your mining the Ninja style. Appear and disappear in the mining region through Bookmarks. This way the NPC rats, and any potential pirates will have a hard time catching up with you, even if they do find out that you exist!

  The idea is to bookmark your asteroid so that the next time you jump back, you should be roughly 15km away from where you want to go. Simply, set your ship camera so it is looking behind you, straight at the jump point. Start moving toward your asteroid. Go past your asteroid and keep going until you are 15km away from it, and 30km from the station, in a straight line of sight. Once you are there, bookmark the spot. You do this to save loads of time during your mining runs, as jumping from the gate will always dump you 15km before your bookmark.

  Last, but not least, try to set a bookmark as close to the station as possible in order to save time on the return trip. A distance of about 8km should do. Okay! Do a test-run to make sure it all works as it should, and adjust your bookmarks if necessary. Time to mine!

• Time and Money Ratio

  The goal should be to maximize the 'time : money' ratio. When the hold is full, high tail back to the station. Do a market search if you really want to, get some idea of the general prices, and generally waste your time. However, it would be advisable to at least look around the first time round so you don't go on selling below market price on the whole.

  Later you can fire off a quick sell offer; take any half-way decent offer that comes along. This is a far better option especially if the ore you sell is not really that valuable. The margins that can be made by being a careful seller can better be covered by hauling in more ore from the mine itself!