I'm not really sure what a "Combat Pilot" is but mining doesn't look too entertaining.
By that I meant "fighting" in general. Mission running, dedspace, scan sites, whatever. And yes, mining is not the most exciting thing in the world to do. Though it is a relaxed, laid back and relatively risk-free thing you can do to make ISK while chatting with people. Some people like it, some don't.
I'd probably need help now and then so I don't go and accidentally lose everything I own.
Feel free to ask questions both here and via our in-game chat channel. Chat will probably get answers faster if people are there.
Quick tip:
Do the tutorials mission chains. The first one will be from Aura and that will give you a starter ship. Once you finish that there will be several to choose from: business, basic military, advanced military, a couple others. These mission chains will not only give you a lot of useful information, they'll give you several million ISK worth of ships, skillbooks and modules. At the very minimum do both military mission chains as they will save you a lot of time and money getting skills and ships that you'll want anyway. The others are not as important, but you may as well do them. Don't plan on doing them all at once though. There are probably a good 10 hours worth of tutorial missions if you decide to do them all.
Quick tip 2:
Read the mission descriptions. It's not always necessary to kill everything, and there are a couple "trick" missions even during the tutorial that all you need to do is scout, see that there are enemies that completely outclass you then immediately turn around and turn the mission in.
Quick tip 3:
The character creator requires about three times as much gaming computer buffness as the game itself. Even if it's painfully slow to the point that you literally have to wait 5-10 seconds between clicking your mouse and seeing anything happen...once you've made a character and get in-game, it may be totally playable.
I hope you guys will continue to be active
Personally I bought three months of game time in advance, and I think a few others bought as much as a year. So yeah, we'll be playing for a while. Also, Eve tends to be a game that people come back to even after they leave. This thread, for example, is two years old, and I've seen it revived a couple times.
I'll get the trial you linked for me though, does it start as soon as I register?
If someone else uses that link can I not use it?
I think the timer starts the first time you log in to the game rather than the instant you subscribe via the link, though you do have to log in within something like 24 hours of signing up or else the trial is canceled and you have to start over. Anyone can use the referral, no limits. And by using it rather than the general trial, you get 21 free days instead of 14, and when you subscribe I get a free month. So win-win for everybody.