I'd like to second the sentiments of the experienced Eve player above. I've only been on there about three weeks, but after my two week trial I was enjoying it enough to sign up for 6 months (figuring the subscription was about the same price as buying one new boxed game; in fact, it cost me a lot less than the ME3 CE!). As a newbie, there are always around 1000-2000 people in the 'help' channel, and your questions do get answered.
Plus, if you pay attention to what the game interface actually tells you, its really pretty tough to accidentally wander into a part of the game world where you are going to get ganked with no questions asked. I've lost several ships so far due to n00bism, but none to pvp; all were pve encounters that I got into either because I didn't pay enough attention to what I was clicking on, or didn't have enough tactical nous and knowledge to avoid defeat. If you stay out of low security regions of space, ywhere there are no npc cops to protect you, you are mostly immune from griefing, even if you are just solo-ing like I currently am while I learn my way around.
It is also a very beautiful game to look at, with full character customisation and some gorgeous spaceship and station models. Plus it can offer some intense real-time combat as well if that's more your thing. It really does offer complete freedom to play the way you want. Trade, or don't; fight, or don't; mine, or don't. Be social, or not. Join a corporation, or not. All up to you. You can have goals, but just like in life, you set them yourself, or in co-operation with other players. There's a skills system, with levelling up, but it's based entirely on time, not on gaining xp through grinding. Some skills cost a lot of time and money to learn, so you have to decide what to prioritise; again, its up to you how you want to build your character. For beginners, the interface is a bit overwhelming and text-heavy at times (its not quite Championship Manager In Space, but it's definitely a game that will appeal to hard-core sim devotees and spreadsheet lovers for its complex trading system, it even has its own stock market for heaven's sakes). But you get used to it pretty quickly.
At the very least, if you like video games, I'd recommend you try the free two-week trial. Even if you don't continue, it'll give you a sense of what a unique game this is. Not quite like anything else I've ever played, and I've been playing video games since the late 1970s (ouch)!
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