Hello, Backstage!
I'll try, and probably fail, to be brief. The list below might function as a TL;DR.
I've played EVE on and off for years, but mostly by playing actively for a month, then going to skill queue maintenance for a few months, and then letting the sub drop. Over the last few iterations of this, I've stuck my toes tentatively into the RP pond of EVE. They're strange waters, compared to other online RP avenues.
Everything seems very quiet (perhaps a product of my EU timezone?), and when someone does chat (Usually in The Summit) it can most often be boiled down to small-talk. Hello. How are you. How about that weather, eh? And so on. Lurk-reading these forums makes it seem as if there is more stuff going on, but I never see it. Not helped by never really engaging in the above-mentioned small-talk. I am a bit intimidated by all the lore and chronicles I haven't read, and I don't want to accidentally base my character on something that doesn't make sense.
I'm about to do another of my ventures into EVE, in the hope that it'll be longer-lasting this time, and that's why I'm posting here. I'd really appreciate some pointers/tips.
1) I understand that the prevailing vision is that it's not really possible for a capsuleer (alpha or omega) to be a slave. Still, the concept appeals to me because it carries with it an automatic, even if not always sympathetic, RP-link to someone. It seems to me a good driver of conflict, and thus, story. Would it not be possible to perhaps have family or other targets/things held at (real or metaphorical) gunpoint to force a capsuleer into compliance? Or are they, as a group, far-removed from such earthly concerns?
2) Pretty simple, I guess, but... decent, recruiting RP corps that aren't a ghost town during EU times?
Given the above, I suppose it'd make sense for them to be Amarr, but not necessarily.
3) Coming back to EVE on a fresh, as-yet unmade character, so any suggestions are welcome! I suppose what I'm primarily looking for are concepts (character and story) that tie heavily into some form of more or less guaranteed interaction, since that seems to be what's hard to find in EVE. The interaction.
Thanks for your time.