Eve is a team based pvp game. Yeah, you can solo and excel, but to make an impact on the map you must get into the "multiplayer" cooperative aspects of the game.
Alot of talk in this thread over whether you can be useful within a certain time or whether a certain amount of SP is "adequate" etc, is missing the point. Amadaeus wants us to believe that you can never catch up to BoB.
He is wrong. Not an insult. Not a flame. I don't know him outside of this board and have no reason to flame\insult, etc. But he's just wrong in this case.
Here's an example to show how: I can take a group of four to six players and limit myself to two months of skill training and I can put said players into ships with setups that would AT LEAST hold the field against anything BoB would bring to the table in such a small scale battle. They could be all BS and none of us would be in a BS and we'd still hold the field. All that is needed is discipline, a willingness to listen, and a willingness to follow orders and be open to new approaches to combat.
The key factors here are leadership ability, understanding of tactics that are independent of SP more or less in terms of their effectiveness, and ship setups that match aforementioned tactical knowledge and approaches.
EW in Eve is a great equalizer if used properly by a well disciplined team. It takes 1.5 to 2 weeks to get good foundation of EW skills. ie, EW4, Signal dispersion 4 , and signal supression 4 along with target painting. Add another week and frequency modulation and you're even more effective.
I spent 8 months in a large alliance in Feythabolis region as pvp director of a large corporation. Leading small groups was a daily thing. Also, I multibox and lead alot more groupings composed of my own characters. (not sam da man style, ffs, nothing like that would work in Eve lol) But the point is that I came to understand how engagements typically unfolded and how winners and losers were determined. Following orders and being discplined far outdistanced SP in importance.
In every combat operation you look for scouts, tackling, damage, and EW. Cruisers(rax, ruptures) perform damage in a more than adequate fashion. Tackling as has been mentioned in this thread is a traditional area of focus for really new players. Frigates and cruisers can tackle(stabber --mini vaga -- anyone
). Scouting can be performed by your tacklers in dual role. Rifter anyone? With the right setup only sensor boosted inties have a chance at tackling it as it comes out of gate cloak and into warp to a safe spot. As far as EW, the blackbird(caldari cruiser) can be effectively used with as little as 1 month training points. 2 weeks for engineering\electronics skills and 2 week for EW\Spaceship command skills.
So there you have your group. A couple tacklers, 1 to 2 EW, and rest damage dealers. Assign the EW and coordination of that is key along with knowing what you face on the other side of the gate(good scouts).
Am I the best at leading this kind of group.....hell no. But I know what I'm doing and people flying with me are certainly effective, lots of SP or not. The final point though, is that it is this excellence or lack thereof at leading and at forming a disciplined team is what's important. SP are not irrevelant, but they are not all important either.
