So how would someone get started if its so easy to get whacked? Newbies start with little resources don’t they?
That they do. But you also start in high security areas where, unless you do something really dumb - like shoot at another player for the hell of it - you’re pretty safe.
Some players never leave hisec space. Some love the constant danger of lowsec/nullsec space. Where you go is up to you and how much risk you’re willing to take.
That said, the only way to be 100% safe is to never undock. But where’s the fun in that? In fact, a lot of the scary lowsec/nosec systems are empty. You can call up a stunning 3D map of the EVE universe and see among other things, how many pilots are active in the system, how many ship kills there were in the 24 hours or last hour. Plan your routes accordingly. As I mentioned before, EVE isn’t for the average game player. It rewards the observant, the imaginative and the bold player. Most of the time, anyway. Check out that EVE Origins trailer.
Another thought - EVE isn’t really aimed at solo players. It’s possible to run solo, but you’ll have a tough time. That suits some folks. Join with a like-minded corp and life becomes much easier.
Since I started at the beginning of June, I’m sitting on hangar full of ships of various types, gear to fit them with and about half a billion in ISK. And good company with which to run missions and ops.
You start by doing easy missions, with an inexpensive ship. If you have friends in the game, they can front you with enough ISK to leapfrog to a better ship. When I was active, I gave out 1M ISK to each of a few new players a week. With a few billion in the bank, it was a drop in the bucket. I was essentially paying forward the same favor to me, many times.
I also helped newbies with the more difficult starting missions (again, someone did the same for me when I couldn't finish a mission). But, I had to give it up when griefers (GoonSwarm, I'm looking at you) thought it was funny to create a new character, and lure you out to help with a mission. They took advantage of a loophole in game mechanics, so their more experienced buddies could swoop in and gank you. It never happened to me, but I heard about enough instances that I stopped participating in missions except for players I knew for awhile.
As you build experience (and standing), you get more difficult missions, which pay better. As you learn more skills and buy/build better ships, you can survive the more difficult missions. You can also make a lot of ISK selling the salvage from ships you destroyed during your missions.