Never played Eve, but have played lots of MMO's. All I have ever heard about Eve's community is that it is generally a very competitive, dog-eat-dog world, with player organizations being mostly about power and intrigue. Is this true? Is there any purely social side to this game? Are there any casual players or guilds that just play for fun and don't stress about how many credits they have etc?
The game houses many players from all walks of life. So whatever you heard may be true to a degree and specifically to a group of players. As with all MMO games, it always depends on the dynamics of the people you see more frequently in the game at the time you play. It also depends on who you choose to spend your time chatting to and who responds. If you're a loner, obviously there isn't much socializing. If you're going to join a corporation, then you have to follow the rules of that organization. That might or might not include socializing.
EVE palyers are like an ant colony. They'll have "steam movie nights" if server is down...or everyone will stream the same movie and watch at same time while waiting for servers to come up. They'll socialzie endlessly while on slow ops or during mining/hauling activities, they'll greatly help each other and so on. But their level of aggression to foreign ants is infinite. Acts of borderline torture on emotional level irl are not uncommon. Long story short, it's like a tribal primitive society. It's great in the interior, but enter another tribe's territory unannounced and they will do all they can to hunt you down and inflict as much pain as possible.
It really depends on where you are in the game as to what type of social environment you will have. High sec/low sec/wormholes will have a smaller community so people get to know each other pretty well. Null sec corps are good but often are very large so you don't really get to know everyone in the alliance, but you still get to know your corpmates. As a previous guy stated basically, its your small group against everyone else. I'm currently in a larger wormhole corp but we still know each other pretty well and play other games with each other when we're bored or need a break from Eve. As for the credits (isk) question, yes you will always want to make more isk so that you can pvp. If you don't like pvp, I would stay away from this game as there are really only 2 types of people. The first is those who pve to fund their pvp activities and the second are those who just do pve to earn isk and then eventually pvp with alts usually.
Like the others have said, due to the design you forge very strong social bonds within your circle, but can be extremely hostile outsiders. But there is definitely some very chill players who just take it easy and enjoy the game, those are the people I usually hang with.
EVE players can be as friendly as they are cut-throat, and the majority of them seem to separate the game from the player very well. Basically, you could be dire enemies with a corp in game, but at a meet up or gathering, kick back and share a pint and good times. EVE players are willing to aid others. From EVE Uni for in-game newbies to PLEX for Good to aid people in real life need, you can find a helping hand. EVE players regular get together around the world for player gatherings. I just wrapped up the newsletter a couple of days ago, so I have a recent list handy: EVE Toronto | http://www.evemeet.net/index.php/upcoming-meets/toronto-player-gathering-featuring-ccp-terminus - 23 May EVE Glasgow 2015 | http://www.evemeet.net/index.php/upcoming-meets/glasgow - 4 July EVE New England | http://www.evemeet.net/index.php/upcoming-meets/eve-new-england - 6-9 August EVE Vegas 2015 | http://vegas.eveonline.com/ - 23-25 October - Over 500 tickets sold, and still selling fast! The Corp Finder in game is a handy tool to help you find a group that matches your hours, interests and playstyle. Good luck!
There are several stereotypes about EVE, sometimes they're accurate, and sometimes they're not. The social environment of EVE is entirely plastic to certain variables. The main factors influencing one's social environment most often are the groups you play with and what kind of community they have. It's no secret that some EVE players can be socially awkward to the point of being toxic. But, it's not difficult to control that kind of attitude. Most alliances and corporations have comms policies that boil down to "don't be a complete piece of trash". So the most toxic elements typically get silenced or removed pretty quickly. All that being said, the social aspects of EVE is the strongest of any MMO I've played. Regardless of what alliance you fly with, out of the game EVE players have a quite strong bond as nerds who love pixel spaceships. It's remarkable to see the kind of things EVE players get up to out of game. I've never played another MMO where players will sit down to have a beer and end up plotting the destruction of their biggest rivals in-game. It's not a stretch to say that the social and metag-gaming aspects are the best part of the game.
