Anytime someone explains why they don't want to join a corp their answer is always super extreme as if they heard one hyperbolic story and based their entire understanding on it.

I would offer some advice, but that would be against your principles of working with someone in an MMO, and I would hate to be the one to ruin your enjoyment of this game..

Uh, I guess you could do some exploration, run level 4's, do all seven epic arcs, buy a carrier, do level fives, move to w-space, solo a c6 site in a dread and then quit out of boredom? Just make sure you don't get ganked an never interact with the market. You might encounter pvp there.

Are we sure this isn't a troll thread? This really seems like cutting out most of what eve has to offer. The only real options I can think of is getting into industry/trading which is a form of pvp, or just grinding the same missions over and over, which still will have pvp in the form of ganking and selling to the market.

The problem is that all the activities in EVE are interrelated in such a way that they do basically boil down to the traditional understanding of "PvP"... that being conflict with other players, usually at the end of a gun barrel.

That's why people by-and-large say that EVE is about PvP.

I saw a mammoth in one corp get shot down by a nightmare during undock earlier today. What's that mammoth doing being PVPed when they're just a poor industrialist?

Was it market competition that evolved into direct warfare? It's certainly possible. That's what is meant by "all play eventually intersects pvp". Anything you can do in this game will eventually involve other players shooting you.

Not sure if by solo you mean 'zero interaction with other players' or not.

If you don't want to interact with other players . . .

. . . he specifically mentions forming a relationship with a corp - how would he do that without interacting with other players?

Actually he specifically mentions not joining a corp.

Well if he helped him then he would be working with him thus breaking the OP's rule. You have answered your own question. It seems self evident to me not sure how you are questioning that one.

This is a common misconception in my opinion. Most people assume that everyone else knows what they know and think that their knowledge base and their perspective is shared by everyone. So when some asks legitimate questions or tries to clarify certain points they think they are being coy or manipulative when they are genuinely looking for a more clear understanding.

So here we go again. You are assuming that your perspective is the "right" one and that anyone that sees things differently is wrong and dumb or playing the Devil's advocate and trying to argue for the sake of argument.. In order to have an open and intelligent and emotionally sharing conversation sometimes we have to hammer out how each of us is defining certain things.

Your definition of PvP here that you think is so absolute is only your definition. I have had these clarifying conversation over this exact definition on this forum several times. I personally define PvP as any activity in which you are attempting to gain an advantage or win or otherwise compete with other players. Under that definition two players could help each other out by "testing fits" and shooting at each other all day long and not be PvPing since neither was trying to win or beat the other.

On the flip side of that you could be sitting in station in jita all day long playing the lower by 1 isk game and be PvPing all day.

This thread would have been over long ago ...
... if someone just went and ganked him. some people weren't so insistent on deliberately misconstruing the OP.