A robust tutorial. Classless character builds. Overwhelmingly open-ended gameplay. Ship designs you’ll need to wear a bib for. And a breed of PvP that’ll make adrenaline junkies sign up for rehab. Sci-fi worshipers: This is your Mecca.
It's like a mix of combat air traffic control and piloting a submarine. A great game for people 40 and up who find almost everything else too childish and wasting of their entertainment time.
Hardcore opportunists and lone-wolf types have a vast cosmos to win here, but more casual gamers are advised to tread cautiously... to research, manufacture and carry a big stick.
As expectations are put aside and the game is explored for its own merits, it begins to provide a vast sense of potential that few games can muster. [June 2003, p.97]
It all comes down to you and a rock, floating together in space, with all the action and serene beauty of the docking sequence from "2001." Play some Strauss and go make another sandwich. [Sept 2003, p.78]
This will be my second review on my 8 year old account. The first was in defense of Dota 2, both for similar reasons. I'm reading reviews from people who score it at 0 because after a few hours they quit after not understanding anything about the game. Below I'll try to debunk or provide context around some of these areas.
1. Alpha vs. Omega. Yes Alpha accounts are a thing, this is a free version of the game but you have limited content available to you. The best way to think about this is as a free trial but not the way the game was ever intended to be played. If you want to play Eve treat it like a subscription model game because that's what it is.
2. Training - yes training takes a long time, this game is not a game of instant gratification. You train by putting skills in a queue which train in real time. Within a couple of days of starting the game you can train enough to fly a few different ships in order to start to see what aspects of the game you enjoy. But to train enough to get to the biggest, most expensive, most capable ships it takes many months if not years to get there. Those who are used to the game and understand the game understand this shouldn't be a big deterrent. The training is there on purpose, the depth of the game mechanics are such that they take a long time to learn, so by rushing things you are doing a disservice to yourself.
3. Not being able to fly everything is okay. You don't need to spend years training to be useful, if you can't fly a super carrier it doesn't mean you are bad at the game. Most of the large, expensive and hard to get into ships sit collecting dust for months on end just to be used for a few minutes. The majority of ships flown in the game are cruisers, something any pilot can get into within a couple days of playing the game.
4. Pay2Win - the game is absolutely NOT pay to win. I mentioned about this is a subscription game but you can also use an in game currency called Plex to pay for your account. This plex can be purchased by a second in game currency called Isk. You generate Isk by doing missions, killing NPC's, getting loot drops you can sell on the market etc. Some people generate enough isk to buy enough plex to subscribe their account. Others buy plex directly from CCP (the developer). I mention the Plex because you can also buy plex and sell it in game for Isk. This can put you in a position to accelerate your pilots career. These people are known as wallet warriors, and this is what people could consider pay2win. A two day old pilot in theory could spend $10,000 and inject (skill injectors increase your skill points and can be bought for isk) themselves into a Titan (biggest, most expensive ship in the game). But so what? What is that pilot going to do with a Titan? 99.9% chance they undock the Titan and within 10 minutes it's tackled and on the way to being destroyed, $10k wasted.
5. Losing Ships - yes this is part of the game. By undocking in Eve you are consenting to PVP. There are 4 main regions in Eve: High Security Space, Low Security, Null Security and Wormholes. You can be shot and killed by pilots in all of these areas. In high security space the in game police force known as Concord will defend you, in all other areas little to no defense is present. This is just a part of the game and part of Eve is learning how not to die. For those experienced we can fly almost anywhere but as a new player you need to learn what to look for in order to keep your ship from being blown up.
6. Eve is best played with friends - To the point above Eve is a very complex game, playing alone is difficult for an experienced player and I'd say game ending for a new one. Any new player should join an Alliance like Eve University immediately, the information you learn from other players is valuable in keeping you engaged in the game. Eve is known for having a steep learning curve and while CCP is taking steps to help with that the game is still complex, so make sure you have a support system.
7. Don't fly what you can't afford to lose - This is what of the main rules of Eve. As a new player you will lose ships, you will lose them to gankers, you'll lose them to NPC's, you'll lose them due to stupid mistakes, this is normal. Just make sure you're losing cheap frigates and destroyers. One of the biggest mistakes new players make is wanting to save up for that new mission running ship, they get their $100mil isk, buy the ship, have nothing left in the bank and it gets blown up their first time using it. This scenario could make someone quit the game no doubt, don't be that guy. Fly what you can afford to lose, this is always the case but as you gain more experience you gain more isk and eventually you'll be flying ships worth a few billion without much concern.
Yes I rated the game 10/10. I've been playing for a bit over a year with 3700 hours in. I know it's not perfect but it's perfect for me
On hell of a solid space game. It's very cerebral and convoluted. Much of the learning curve has been leveled out, but it is still one of the highest in the industry. You should know that this is a true SANDBOX. You have to have to be a proactive person to enjoy the game. You need to set goals for yourself. Outside of a few overarching story lines, the content is pretty much up to you as a gamer. I have had some great times playing, many times I was just doing something risky and ended up in the right place at the right time.
This is a game where making friends is also a must. Just like the MMOs of old, you will need friends to venture out of the safe areas of "High Sec." (High Security) You MIGHT get lucky, but most of the time, you will just get ganked by a rat (short for: pirate) who is "gate camping" (waiting at jump points frequently used by noobs to short cut a long journey). There are two acronyms in EVE you will run into:
NBSI (Not Blue, Shoot It) - Blue color tags represent allies or friends. In other words shoot anyone you don't know. (for fun, name your first few ships: 0000FF. The HTML code for blue. Having a ganker laugh may be all the time you need to get away)
HTFU (Harden The [guess o.O] Up) - You need a thick skin to play the game. It's not for the timid or solo player.
If you are looking for an in the cockpit view, this is not the game. There are a few new ones coming out that will scratch that itch. This is has frequently, with good cause, been called Spreadsheet Wars. This is an external view with simple 300-1000 poly count ships. The skinning and tessellation have done WONDERS and it looks just like a recently released game, especially with the last update: Kronos. It's keeping up with the times and after 11 years they have to be doing something right.
Weird game which becomes weirder and weirder with each update.
First and foremost: unless you can find a bunch of co-players - you're nothing.
That's not how it was advertised...
Activities which could, in theory, be solo'able are either not worth the effort (i. e. quite low income vs playtime and no fun) or hidden deep within 'back to 2000'ies' user interface.
Second, unless you buy Omega subscription - you're nothing.
That's not how it was advertised...
In theory, your character can learn some skills to be quite decent. In fact, you'll be crushed by pilots whose ships, while being of same model with yours, have twice a durability and twice a firepower (at least!) just because of all OP things Omega allows to use. Even as a tackler you'll be just worse than average Omega-powered tackler. Aside of tackling, you have no use for anything without Omega anyway.
Third, after all those years of megacorporations' domination, developers decided to cut the in-game cash flow for them...
...without increasing solo/small guild playable activities' attractivemess. Awesome.
That's not how it was advertised...
Fourth, 15$/month for just staring into display while my character is researching blueprints? Diggin ore? Trying to do one's best at market?
15$/month is too costy for playing an in-game character 'class' whose sole responsibility is to click few buttons every once a while. Result: a good digger/researcher is hard to find. Thus, outrageous, desperate multiaccounting, botting, etc. Which doesn't add any chance to play and actually enjoy the game for solo and/or non-Omega players.
Fifth, despite seemingly strict moderation the game is full of 'git gud' jerks.
Which is NOT novice-friendly. Asking for advice may result in anything except an advice.
Long story short, if you didn't played it - don't even try unless you have 2-6 friends to mess around with - and spare 15$/friend to purchase Omega for each.
And, there are way more fun games to mess with 2-6 friends around - for less cash.
The game is not any more deep or complex than any other MMO, it's just that the game provides you little to no instruction on how to do anything and the menus and UI are terrible. Generally speaking, this game is a griefer's paradise. It's full of sociopaths who love to prey on the weak and defenseless. To say that it brings out the worst in people, well it's close, they're just being who they really are. So it's more like the perfect venue for them to act out in a way they can't in RL.
I've really tried to like the game and have gone through the trial and subbed twice but I've regretted it both times. The Corporations (Guilds) in the game are the least friendly, least social people I have ever come across in any MMO in the last five years. I could go **** I'll just leave it at this: Don't waste your time on this game.
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