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[Roime]

I'm in the process of writing my character histories, but one thing baffles me- the starter NPC corps and their relation to capsuleers. We all start in some educational institute, but are these for capsuleers or for non-capsuleers? Are there separate programs for capsuleers? How and when do we normally become capsuleers, and who performs the selection? Any information on the selection processes for the institutes? Graduating?

Any pointers to resources or your personal views on the matters would be highly appreciated.

[Ashley]

Are these for capsuleers or for non-capsuleers?

As far As I understand they are the best institutes/universities of their empire, state, federation etc. And as best of the best they have a capsuleer program course. So they are open for pretty much everyone if you have sufficient knowledge/funds/connections.
"Hedion University (graduating the best business students in the Empire)..." - source

Are there separate programs for capsuleers?

If I understand correctly there is:
"Aside from the mental and physical training, which can place the trainees under immense stress, the added component of catatonia is constant possibility. In effect, a capsuleer in training does not and will not know whether or not they are predisposed - through genetics and general constitution - to complete their training course until after the fact." - source

Or at least there must be some sort of course/training to prepare trainee for mental/physical stress.

How and when do we normally become capsuleers, and who performs the selection?

I assume there is a test that you can take to show are you at least compatible with the capsule.
Then there is a course/training that you have to petition to get in and it is probably funded by your government/institution or from your own pockets.
Finally there is a final exam when you pass and become a capsuleer or fail and become a catatonic vegetable.

I have no source so it is all just my assumptions.

Any information on the selection processes for the institutes?

Again no source so just my assumptions.

For the institutes I don't think it differ much from our present  selection process:
school/college reference -> tests -> final interview or connections and money.

[Esna Pitoojee]

I have always been under the impression that most of the school corps are institutions which only just opened a capsuleer training program recently; keep in mind that the age of non-navy capsuleers is only just over ten years old, and many of these institutions have been around for many times that.

[Samira Kernher]

They are old and have been around for awhile. They have simply opened capsuleer programs. For example, Republic University has existed since the formation of the Republic, and only recently opened a capsuleer program.

"The Republic University was founded by Minmatar emigrants as a show of support for the fledgling republic shortly after its inception. The school is modeled after the University of Caille and based on the Gallentean education system." - Republic University in-game description


As for the other questions: The general assumption is that it is based on genetic disposition that is discovered through specific medical tests. The programs are typically assumed to take 2-4+ several years like any other university program.

For funding, I have gone with government/school assistance/grants, but requiring a time spent making up the costs after finishing. There's no lore for this, but with the amounts capsuleers make, I figured a few months/years post-graduation spent working for the organization (your time in the corporation while playing the game, before joining a player corp) makes up all the money you were granted to attend, thus allowing the universities to make out ahead despite paying for your education costs.

[Hamish Grayson]

Only a tiny number of people are capable of interacting with a capsule without going into mindlock and there is a genetic marker that indicates a higher chance of making it so there is more to it than just money and connections.  New Eden is home to several trillion people, yet only a few hundred thousand capsuleers roam the stars.   I would imagine that even a street kid who tested positive with the marker would suddenly find herself with dozens of sponsors.   I have a personal hope/theory that the learning skills weren't just retconned out of existence but are now part of the the first 'hidden' skill books a new capsuleer gets before graduation - if so, tripling their IQ would give even the initially poorest budding transhuman the means to pay of any sponsor loans with interest well before grad day.

Also, my assumption has always been that while the majority of students at a given school are normal people, the capsuleers-to-be probably don't interact with them much and that the capsuleer program takes several years.

[Silas Vitalia]

The wealth and influence capsuleers generate so easily means none of us paid for any sort of schooling ourselves (after compatibility is detected, which varies based on character).  Even if 1% of the gene-capable students make it through, just collecting a fraction of their income through taxes pays the investment many, many times over.

IE I'd gladly fund and pay for 1,000 people to go to the special school and take the capsuleer test knowing just ten of them would make it through and make me billions and billions with my miniscule .05% isk tax on their future earnings, etc.

I also suspect as part of the sneaky Jovian / CONCORD / Yulai accord treaties, that the empires are FORCED to graduate a certain number of 'independent' capsuleers (the EVE playerbase).  I can't find a logical reason otherwise why restrictive dictatorships and such would possibly train the deadliest people in the galaxy and then say 'go have fun!' with no restrictions.

They must be doing most of the training and keeping them in-house and the token eve playerbase are the independents.   My two isk.

[Esna Pitoojee]

New Eden is home to several trillion people, yet only a few hundred thousand capsuleers roam the stars.

Asssuming you are referring to the few hundred thousand total active players here - I'm just going to point something out real fast: There are many, many more navy- or otherwise state-bound capsuleers than there are "free" ones.

  I would imagine that even a street kid who tested positive with the marker would suddenly find herself with dozens of sponsors. 

Indeed.


I've long RPed that Esna's capsuleer schooling was funded primarily by a grant from Carthum Conglomerate, in return for which he worked exclusively for them for some time after graduation (i.e., the ~9 months or so after starting Esna that I just ran missions). This grant came in part because ~someone~ saw a potential for getting a capsuleer under their thumb; the same someone also pushed for Esna to be given a Holder's title, in return for his expected long-term loyalty to his benefactor.

[Samira Kernher]

Samira's family had basically no money, as refugees. When she got identified as a capsuleer, she got some grants, which funded her schooling. She eventually had to pay those grants off with interest, but with capsuleer income that was easily and quickly done.

[Hamish Grayson]

New Eden is home to several trillion people, yet only a few hundred thousand capsuleers roam the stars.

I'm just going to point something out real fast: There are many, many more navy- or otherwise state-bound capsuleers than there are "free" ones.

Source?  Unless the empires prohibit them from injecting skill books I find the idea of millions of capsuleers working for the empires to be ludicrous.    If that were true New Eden would be a much different place.    Go watch the move 'Limitless' then imagine several million copies of the main character serving as mid-grade officers or holding low-level government jobs and not building their own galactic empires.   Yea, right.

If I were inclined, which I'm not, I could probably go on for pages siting a list of 'if that were true, then...instead of..."

In my opinion some RPers adopt this belief because they want their characters to be closer to normal humans that PF actually supports.   It's in the same vein as the skillsoft/meat-cpu vs 'I know kung-fu' transhuman/demi-god debate concerning how skillbooks work and I wish CCP would clarify both.    It's something that seems to really divide RPers and creates drastically different OOC understanding of the universe our characters share. 

[Roime]

Thanks a lot guys!

Looks like the lore leaves a lot of freedom in these matters, but you gave me plenty of good ideas and I think I got this part of background(s) sorted now

[Hamish Grayson]

Clarity: SOCT Advanced awareness training. While this training obviously is of great value to anyone, the most impressive results are achieved by students with great latent potential. These students develop almost superhuman sensory abilities and can react to stimuli so fast that, to the untrained eye, it almost seems as if they can predict the future.

Focus:  SOCT Advanced self-discipline training. While this training obviously is of great value to anyone, the most impressive results are achieved by students with great latent potential. These students are able to remain focused and alert under extreme pressure, and can ignore pain and fatigue for extended periods of time.

Eidetic Memory: SOCT Advanced mnemonic training. While this training obviously is of great value to anyone, the most impressive results are achieved by students with great latent potential, allowing them to recall nearly anything they have ever experienced with total lucidity.

Presence:  SOCT Advanced social consciousness training. While this training obviously is of great value to anyone, the most impressive results are achieved by students with great latent potential. Training in this skill allows a student to develop heightened mental sensitivity, to the point of being able to sense the surface mood and emotions of a person.

Logic: SOCT Advanced intelligence training. While this training obviously is of great value to anyone, the most impressive results are achieved by students with great latent potential. These students develop an intuitive understanding of complex patterns and are able to grasp esoteric concepts with incredible ease.*

*The minimum baseline intelligence attribute requirement to become a capsuleer is seven.   The learning skills added ten more points, an improved cybernetic subprocessor adds five and a remap adds potentially ten for a grand potential total of thirty two.   Now we have no way of knowing what the correlation between IQ and attribute points is, but the description of the logic skillbook seems to indicate that a score of 17 (out of 32) puts one in the genius bracket.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcnkObLoobk

[Samira Kernher]

New Eden is home to several trillion people, yet only a few hundred thousand capsuleers roam the stars.

I'm just going to point something out real fast: There are many, many more navy- or otherwise state-bound capsuleers than there are "free" ones.

Source?  Unless the empires prohibit them from injecting skill books I find the idea of millions of capsuleers working for the empires to be ludicrous.    If that were true New Eden would be a much different place.    Go watch the move 'Limitless' then imagine several million copies of the main character serving as mid-grade officers or holding low-level government jobs and not building their own galactic empires.   Yea, right.

If I were inclined, which I'm not, I could probably go on for pages siting a list of 'if that were true, then...instead of..."

In my opinion some RPers adopt this belief because they want their characters to be closer to normal humans that PF actually supports.   It's in the same vein as the skillsoft/meat-cpu vs 'I know kung-fu' transhuman/demi-god debate concerning how skillbooks work and I wish CCP would clarify both.    It's something that seems to really divide RPers and creates drastically different OOC understanding of the universe our characters share.

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=3258433#post3258433

[Hamish Grayson]

I do seem to recall Verone shared a different opinion than me on that topic and a few others.    Still does make any damn sense.    Oh well.

[Synthia]

One of the things we thought of, to explain things such as why it says "Imperial Academy" or "Hedion University" for our characters employment, was that those institutions also validate training/education from other sources, via whatever methods.

E.g. some colleges teach education courses, but the degree is awarded by a University.
And, for membership of some professional bodies, e.g. a chartered engineer, there is an exam, some university courses provide exemption from that exam. You can still learn the stuff by whatever method, and take the exam, without going through university.

So, people from other backgrounds, study the relevant capsule-piloting doodadery, and then turn up with a large pile of money to say "I want to take the piloting exam". Hedion University says "OK, step into the capsule-simulator", and off it goes, complete the tests, Hedion University says "congratulations, here is your license"

[Lyn Farel]

In my opinion some RPers adopt this belief because they want their characters to be closer to normal humans that PF actually supports.   It's in the same vein as the skillsoft/meat-cpu vs 'I know kung-fu' transhuman/demi-god debate concerning how skillbooks work and I wish CCP would clarify both.    It's something that seems to really divide RPers and creates drastically different OOC understanding of the universe our characters share.

Or maybe it's also a common theory among RPers to explain why all the empire stupidly let us go away/freelance like that instead of keeping us enlisted and under control : where we actually are only the leftovers/loose ends of every academy.

Or maybe we are let go freelance because of hidden CONCORD accords, or whatever.

Could be anything, players willing to be closer to normal humans or not.