Join a Corporation
Join a Corporation
Once you've learned the game 'enough', you join a corporation.
Joining a corporation is where you meet a group of like minded players who share your values. Picking based on where they live (Null, Low, Wormholes, High) and when they fly (Timezone) is most important!
There are many resources to rely on to join a corporation. Realize it is fine to join one, see if it's for you, and leave if it's not right for you. There are chances you could alienate future employers, but it's better than sitting in high sec alone!
https://www.eveonline.com/eve-academy/corporations is the official CCP site on picking a corporation, but doesn't cover how to find the right timezone.
Mechanics of joining a corporation
In game, there is an option under Neocom (The E in the upper left corner) | Social | Corporation | Recruitment
in the Eve Online Discord server, there is a Corporation channel
On the Eve Online Forums, there is a Recruitment Center - https://forums.eveonline.com/c/corporations-alliances/recruitment-center/63
You can start your own. It requires 1 million isk, and a dream to do something
When joining a corporation you want consider the following things:
What time do you play. This is the absolute key point to do first before any of these other decisions.
Do they speak your language? Language specific corps offer major advantages, though most speak some variation of English.
Did you want to start your own corporation? It's easy. Costs 1 million isk. Check out Corp Management page!
What area of space will you live in
High sec - This is hiding behind CONCORD and often doesn't offer much risk or rewards. This is mostly for trading groups, high sec incursions, abyssal running, mission running, low end DED sites, and high sec mining. However, most times it is just a tax dodge to run missions with 0 taxes. Incursions is great money but it's boring gameplay. (For me) Abyssal running is maybe the best isk in the game, but is VERY hard on the high end.
Low sec - These are very risky groups, as they have to deal with gate guns and complicated mechanics, while at the same time doing what they want. These are varied from Faction Warfare groups, PVP groups, low sec mission running, low sec mining, or hot drop central groups. Faction Warfare currently pays well, along with some tag and key farming groups.
Null sec - This where everything goes. :D The players run everything. These groups are the bulk of the organized groups in the game. These groups do null sec ratting, sov warfare, exploration, Diamond rat farming, null sec incursions, mining on a scale unseen anywhere else, abyssal running, high end DED sites, escalations, and just straight up PVP. You don't have to be a PVPer to be out in null sec, but that is where the fun is.
Wormholes - This is siloed off space that links to itself, run by the players, with few rules and some mechanics. These groups do sleeper sites, PVP in null/low sec, exploration, gas mining. Note, your stuff is not safe in a wormhole as anything in a structure drops when the structure drops, so is not a good place for an off/on player. Note, this can also include thera and drifter hole groups too.
What do you want to do. This is HUGELY varied. Pick some filters of things you want to do.
Once you think you've found your corp, research them a bit. Find them on Zkillboard, and see what times they play. There is an image on the right hand side that shows when they are the most active.
If you are a steam player, you might need to setup a username to join an ESI gated corporation. Note, some don't require ESI immediately.
Note, some corporations are are a bit hostile to new players. But don't get discouraged!
An example of using the ingame tools to find a low sec mining corp that speaks english, for instance: (Social | Corporation | Recruitment | Search)
Eve Academy
https://www.eveonline.com/eve-academy/corporations has a more general guide on this.
There is also an ISD thread here: https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-find-the-corp-that-is-right-for-you/4451
I don't personally recommend every starter corporation out there, some are a little too much theory and not enough in practice. That's just my personal thought when I put a newbie through their programs. And realize it's very easy to correct a mistake later, tons of groups to join.
Asking questions in rookie chat in game is a great way to get advice and links as well, and you can use that for awhile till you figure out where you want to go.
Why you join a corporation
This is your Eve Tip of the day on finding people to play this terrible game with. Thanks to Muraku Butler for the idea.
Eve is a massively multiplayer game. Playing it as a single player game is remarkably depressing. I once built a bunch of sabres from scratch and it took a very long time, just see the parts list
It has the ups and downs with playing with a bunch of weirdos, but more ups than downs. The difference is that CCP, the company that makes Eve Online, has always encouraged a 'sandbox' rather than a safe walled off space. There are sets or rules in the EULA https://community.eveonline.com/support/policies/eve-eula-en/ for instance, but beyond that, its all fair game.
But the core rule of Eve is to never trust anyone you cannot punch. There are people you can grow to trust. It is faster to grow that trust by building up from the same place. For instance, you could do team ratting with another player in eve, and next thing you know, you're going to Eve Vegas together.
(If you joined horde) https://www.pandemic-horde.org/settings/discord/channels has a list of channels that Horde encourages people to join that are open to all. This includes language specific groups. This helps build your tribe of people who know you and helps foster joint ventures. Working with someone daily helps build that trust quickly as well. But even that might lead to failure, as my sad story shows.
But the differentiator for horde for me is the #1 rule: Don't be a dick. This is an easy to follow rule is the reason why I think we've been so successful. Even if a person is being annoying with questions, try to treat them with respect and be nice. Anyone who doesn't fit the mold will generally leave at some point or another, and it all depends on how much of a jerk they are with how many groups they'll bounce around to.
Here's hoping you enjoy your time in Eve and find something worth fighting for. :smile:
Finding corporations in your timezone
The most important thing when joining a corporation is finding pilots in your timezone. I will give some examples below as well.
You have a variety of ways to seeing if groups are active.
Their recruiting channel has people and they are active in it.
You can talk to them real time on their discord, once you get invited to it. Scroll to the previous day around the time you want and see if they were active then.
You can travel to their system and see if they have active pilots in space around that time.
You can look in-game space maps that show 'pilots in space for the last 30 minutes'. Map | Gear icon
Look at the evemaps for the hour you would want to play: Jumps in past hour , pod kills in past hour, NPC kills in the past hour
But by far the best way is to see their killboard.
Zkillboard is the 'history' of eve. You can see a live scrolling feed on the front page that shows who is killing what, when. And by looking at their ships, you can easily see who's active with the activity you want to do.
It shows who is active on a historical basis. There is a 90 day activity image on the right hand side. This shows up as 0000 eve on the left (US TZ), 1200 eve in the exact middle (AU TZ), and 2300 on the far right (EU TZ). I have posted some pictures below to figure out.
And if you see a completely blank black image on that corporation, they are not doing anything risky that could get them kills or killed, and that corporation might as well be dead. :D
Join Horde
Personally, I think Pandemic Horde is the best group to join though. Hit the plus sign next to the chat box, and join the channel Join Horde to see what you have to do join us! We will be in nearly every major fight. :D Details in the corp-recruitment channel in the eve online official discord.
It should be pointed out that I was a Goonswarm director for six years as well. Every day, I had 3 different people be a dick to me for no reason at all. That doesn't happen in Pandemic Horde. We operate on a simple principle: Don't be a dick
ESI-gated corporations
Pandemic Horde is split into two groups, esi-gated and non-gated.
Non-gated is Pandemic Horde Inc and a few others. These corps do not require any requirements, don't need to talk to us first, just apply through the in game channel `join horde`. Because we take anyone, it has a lost of spies. You have access to around 60 systems and some SIGs.
ESI-gated corporations have access to around 200 some systems and can join any SIG (Special Interest Group), including PANKRAB, our super cap umbrella. Most require over 10 mil skill points to join, but some take newer players. Make sure to talk to them first though, they want to get to know you, and will ask to see your ESI, which shows your activity in game.
BTW, for those interested, I run a public thread on the Eve Online discord. In there, there is a list of member corps that are recruiting publicly.
You can go to https://www.eveonline.com/discord and register, and go to corp-recruitment and find the pandemic hord thread. or you can go to this link directly. https://discord.com/channels/940573867192221696/1062747466052669440
If you are a member corp, drop me a note if you are advertising on there and I will add you to the list.
Newbie corporations
Note, I'm somewhat biased here, see the next section on Current Political climate on why I recommend one over the other. I am rooting for my own sports team. See Thanks! page on why this wiki got created at all, it was just deal with a gap in the education of new players.
Pandemic Horde Inc [THXFC] - Part of PanFam along with frat, ncdot, and PL. Just do `join horde` in game. This is my 'sports team' so I see these as the good guys. We do everything including faction warfare. Tax rate: 10%
Pandemic Horde High Sec division - Only choose if you have remaining tasks in high sec, you get advice and that's about it. Honestly don't recommend high sec. Tax rate: 0%
Arctic Beans - Russian Pandemic Horde group, do `join arctic` in game to join them. Language specific corps are great. Tax rate 10%
KarmaFleet - Goons, head of Imperium, one of the largest blocs, aka the 'bad guys' for my sports team. Note, they're very sensitive to spies, so good luck. Do the Newbie page first or you will get spy checked. Tax rate: 15%
Systems High Guard [CW-HG] - Tight-knit, newbie-friendly corp in TNT, in the Imperium bloc. Great for a small-corp feel with access to large-scale nullsec warfare. Thanks to Mac Gunderson for the guides! Tax rate: 10%
Brave Newbies Inc. - Part of Brave collective, in the bloc B3 allied with Goons, just moved south. Can be spy sensitive. Tax rate: 10%
Dreddit - Part of Test Alliance Please Ignore, allied to Panfam, used to be one of the largest ones out there. Tax rate: 8%
ChuangShi - Chinese corp for Fraternity. Think they also have english speakers, great for AU TZ players. Tax rate: 15%
Turbo Pups is a group that strives to get people into wormholes. Must be willing to train doctrines, must be willing to do effort, more experience is better! gone
The Frog Pond is a Gallente Faction Warfare training corporation, and take new brand players. Note, this will tank your Caldari Standings so make sure you get a jita alt! Tax rate: 0%
There are several russian corps as well that I don't have a ton of knowledge of: Conoco., 000 Russian Academy 000, Russian Space Academy, Red Cold Chili Banderlogs Academy, F.13
Most give out some combination of skill books and ships to get you involved with their group.
Temporary Learning Corporations
These corporations are temporary ones you can join to learn the game before going onto a full blown corporation.
Eve University [E-UNI] - Learn the game in relative safety. They teach lots of classes and support new players, register on eve uni portal. Tax rate: 2.5%
Subsidy H.R.S. - 1% tax rate, "teaching new players to be self sufficient". Said very advanced things for new players so I would advise against. Tax rate: 1%
Fraternity University - New rising alliance to get people into the game. Tax rate: 1%
Emperor's Medical Corporation is a high sec zero tax corp that you could join early on to avoid taxes.
Independant groups
Eve Rookies is an open community that specializes in hosting fleets for new players, alphas and returning vets. Try one of their public events! Tax rate: 0.0%
Bombers Bar - Just a group that drops on people to kill them. :) Needs to fly a covert ops bomber with torps and bomb launchers!
Spectre Fleet - NPSI (Not Purple Shoot It, IE shoot everyone not in fleet) Goes out regularly, get some kills and experience, goes fast though.
NPSI and F.U.N. Inc. attended a NPSI fleet with no strings attached fun, presented by FUN INC and the wider NPSI community. Can attend NPSI fleets as a brand newbie, but need several weeks in the fleets before trying to join the corporation. Tax rate: 1.5%
Ill-advised corporations
I finally have a couple corps/alliances that I should advise against:
Absolute Order - Predatory buyback and poor advice, forcing new players into bad situtations. Tax rate: 10%
Silent company - Advise against these guys, they don't offer much for new players other than collecting your taxes
Steer clear of any rental groups as a new player, as there are specific cases and uses for them to have solo ownership.
Any corp with more than 10% tax rates in high sec. 12% in low sec. 15% in null/wormhole space
If they are heavily advertising in a newbie system, they might be looking to take advantage of you! Ask in public about them.
Any corp that requires people to give up mining materials as a percentage.
Have issues with the way I present this information? Let me know, I'm happy to make changes, within reason. See why below I might be in favor of my own team.
When in doubt, ASK IN PUBLIC. You will get a variety of responses, take them at face value. and I'll point back to the golden rules: don't trust anyone.
Leaving A Corporation (Hey I got kicked!)
To leave a corporation, you just join a new one. You can just join your previous school corporation if you want. If you are kicked, you go to one of the NPC ones. There are a lot of reasons to actively leave a corporation
You find unfair practices that other groups are not doing. I'd recommend discussing publicly in a newbie zone to get a solid opinion on this.
You find an incompatible or hostile culture. If you see extreme gamer culture, please report them to CCP as well.
You see against EULA activity. And again, report to CCP, let's make our game better.
But the more likely reason you leave is:
You don't play that often.
They don't play at the same time as you.
There is little cooperation.
They don't do the activities you want to do.
It's not fun.
And then there are the things you can do to get yourself kicked:
You are a spy.
You use gamer words and offended people.
You went AFK, didn't tell anyone, and they needed the room.
You are caught buying or selling isk for real world dollars, which is against the EULA.
Other EULA rule breaking.
Not listening or following the rules.
When you are kicked, you will not be told why often. Sometimes you are told exactly why, but most times you get radio silence. Due to the mercenary nature of eve, it's usually just over for you and that's it, nothing else to be said.
In some cases you can reapply. If you are rejected again, just work on recovering what you can, either through Asset Safety or using a shipping service. If you have a cap, often you sell it in place, or firesale it. Either way, lots of groups out there to join, don't let it bother you too much.
Leaving a corporation voluntarily
Here are the things to check on before you leave.
Did you evac/sell your stuff. Ships sell, stuff ship out. This can take some time. Can take it places less conspicious if you're being watched.
Did you move your expensive clones? Get them into a shuttle and take them back to empire
Get yourself safely out of their space, usually a shuttle using their jump bridges/wormholes. I recommend getting to a station.
If you have nothing, you can set your home station to a 'school station' by going to Character Sheet | Character | Select Home Station | Pick the school station where you started | Set Home Station.
I recommend cancelling your ESIs now. https://community.eveonline.com/support/third-party-applications/ has how to cancel those.
Note, if you're going to steal stuff or wreck things on the way out, it will be noticed and might even get posted about that you're a bad person.
Ready to drop corp? go to Corporation | Details | Prepare to quit corp. Or just apply to a new corp and wait for them to accept you. Note, if you didn't drop ESIs, your old corp can see that correspondance. Try to talk to the corp before joining the new one.
You then accept this new corp when you feel 'safe'. :) Note, war decs take a bit to go away.
That's it. Remember your old corps stick aroudn in your history forever.
Current Political climate
The world is basically divided into two teams currently. You can consider these as sports teams. This section is a bit like asking someone to write about the Cardinals as a White Sox fan. Each has their place in the world. You join a corporation, which is part of an alliance, which is part of a coalition. Some corps go by their ticker, some go by their name. The corporations are best if they are your native language as well. All corporations have good and bad people, so if it's not for you, choose a new one!
There are easy to see maps on Daily Sov Maps showing regular changes happening. Dotlan also tracks the largest alliances in game and who controls the most space. You can also see these live in game in Neocom, Social, Corporation, Alliances. I last updated these in 2023 Q4.
On my side, you have the side of good, Pan Fam + Winter Co. This is composed of several major alliances of Pandemic Horde, SLYCE, NCdot, Pandemic Legion, (This preceeding group is shortened to PanFam) and the parts of winterco: Fraternity, Test, Blades of Grass, Siberian Squads. They also rent systems using PIBC or BOT if you wanted to buy space for isk.
On the other side, you have the bad guys, Imperium (yes, Also the bad guys from Warhammer 40k). This is actually several factions, with Goonswarm calling most of the shots.. Goons also have pet alliances of Dracarys, TNT, Sigma, Siberian and more. There also two other groups called B2 (Brave, BL0B, Banderlogs, V0lta, XIX, SYN, Shadow, -7- ) and Initiative who assist Goons. In 2023 Q4, Brave moved down to Imperium. In 2024 Q4, Goons moved down to UALX-3 and gave Delve to Brave.
You can easily see who's fighting who by looking at the battle report sites such as https://br.evetools.org/ . Last major battle in July 1st for instance.
There also used to be a South Eastern Agreement that allows neutral parties to setup in some key places in null sec, and that agreement has been holding firm if you want to stake your own claim. Apply to grab a stake if you want to stand up your own infrastructure there without being stepped on by the Blue Donut. Goons have walked away from this agreement, though horde still plans to honor it after it official ends .
There are also wormholers and low sec entities that sometimes pick sides in these wars, but it can be fickle. I don't have enough detail to know how these work. Wormholes can be scary if you AFK a lot, because when your hole gets evicted, all your stuff dies. But low sec entities live in NPC stations that cannot die, they also tend to use a lot of implants because you can easily get them out.
Sov Map circa 2023 Q4
Thanks to Nalani Firestone for the layout suggestions! Note, 2024 Q4, goons took over the southeastern Agreement areas for themselves.
