Well, I've played EVE for a week and a half now (thanks to Blondeshell for the buddy invite!) and it hasn't been as bad as its reputation had led me to expect. I was really apprehensive going in. Of course, I'm still flying around in the High Security systems doing beginner things.
The Rookie Help chat channel has been really helpful. I'd say it is up to COH standards in politeness. But then again, it is moderated. The only problem I have with the chat is that you can't stop the scrolling, so it's hard to keep track of what's being said. One thing I have noticed while monitoring the Rookie chat is that there is a consistent inflow of new players. Every day, different people are asking questions about the same tutorial missions, which admittedly are vague so their briefings need to be re-read, plus occasionally one needs to psychically to know about using never before mentioned UI controls. I don't know if this new EVE trailer is the cause. The game's Launcher shows the count of online players and I see that it ranges from a low of 21K near mid-night EST weekdays to 35K prime time weekends. (EVE only has one server.)
I've only been shot at once by a player when I ventured out into a medium-ish Sec system to look for an ore for a tutorial mission. He sent an in-game email that it was an accident by his deployed Drones acting on automatic aggressiveness. I haven't tried Drones yet, so I don't know if this was BS.
I've also did a run with a Corp hosting a PvP for Rookies night. I don't intend to PvP on purpose, but since the game is heavily about PvP, I figured I need to understand how its done here. They provided a free ship with gear and Skill books (so the gear could be used) to all who participated. The host gave a brief lecture on targeting, maintaining range and constant movement, scanning a system for ships, fleet communications and movement. The most important thing I learned that night was renaming my ship so I wasn't labeling myself as fresh off the boat! After the basics, the 3-4 Corp vets led us up a string of Low Sec systems to hunt. Unfortunately, it was the night before Thanksgiving so the pickings were slim.
Money-wise, generating steady income through mining is pretty easy. One of the Tutorials gave me a mining frigate with decent capacity. Mining the ore that sells for the best price in my region of space nets me about 1 million ISK per 25+ min run. So none of the beginner ship gear and Skill books are out of reach. Even replacing a beginner ship is affordable. I already lost my first mining ship when some NPC pirates blew it up while I wasn't paying attention.
Speaking of ships, after doing the 5 Career Path tutorials, I ended up with 10 free ships of assorted types. For a casual player who'll spend most of their time in the High Sec systems, I'd say they're pretty set. The aggressive types who are raring to go into the Low Sec systems will probably hook up with a Corp specializing in whatever play style they're after and the Corp can provide them with aid. Speaking of Corps, I haven't seen a lot of in-game recruiting SPAM, so that's nice.