Other than Everquest 1 and 2, i haven’t really played any other MMO… (well about an hour of WoW). I have heard a lot about Eve-online from some of the podcast and blogs that i follow. I have allways liked space games, one of the first games i ever played heavily was Escape Velocity for the mac.
So today i downloaded the 14 day trial for Eve-online, and i’m going in to this game a total Noob, having only played EQ, and EQ2 this is going to feel totally different than I’m use to.
So here we go with the newbie experience.
.. Wow.. i don’t know what to say, The game is very similar to escape velocity, you get a mission that is either kill something or fedex something. And it rather boring. Get a mission. Set it as the destination. Hit auto Pilot. And wait 5 mins to get there, and that it. Is that really all that is to the game? if so i don’t think i’ll log in again. But i mean there over 20,000 when i logged in
Go into low sec and 0.0 space and let me know if it’s still boring for you?
Eve is more than mission running. There is a player run market, manufacturing, mining, trading, npc hunting, and other stuff.
There is also the social aspect of it. There are player run corporations, which get together to form an alliance and rule 0.0 space (Lawless space). This aspect of the game is enriched by the political and economical associations between alliances and corporations.
The skill system in Eve is set up so your character is still training, even when you are offline, for the next ship you want to fly or the for the next item you’d like to use. There is a wide range of ships to fly in eve, ranging from frigates which require low skill points to dreadnoughts and motherships which require 100+ days to train. Combat is also very diverse, it can happen as a one vs one, small gangs, or large scale fleets where wings and squads are assigned roles according to what ships the pilots are flying.
I hope you go the full 14 day trial and then decide if the game is for your or not. I did and it’s been more than a year and I enjoy it very much.
Do try joining a “gang” (group) and working on story missions together. Flying through the universe in a squadron, little frigates in front (that was my role, as a noob), while the larger ships hung back and provided long range support, repair, and pulled the loot closer so you didn’t have to spend half an hour flitting around after each battle to scoop it all up. Barrel through enemy formations just long enough to dump drones, wither them with short range laser fire and missiles, then boost out to let your long-range guns finish the clean-up.
The solo missions are pretty much as boring as they are in every MMO. Group play is where it’s at. I didn’t get the chance to get to 0.0 space while on my free trial — but I left knowing I’d played a very deep game.
The real game in Eve comes after you join a large corporation in 0.0 space. Then things get far far more interesting. Even if you’re mining, something considered to be the least interesting activity in Eve, you’re now in a tight well planned group with combat ships protecting you from both player and npc ‘rats.
It has a time requirement higher than any other game I can possibly think of. While the advancment system eliminates “the grind” of XPing, you need a huge commitment to keep up with things.
If you want a taste of it, see if a corp is running some kind of PVP academy. They’ll get you out into 0.0 space in a disposable frigate or something.
While it wasn’t the game for me, not enough other women, and more time than I had to devote to it, it’s a pretty amazing game. You haven’t lived until you’ve been in a PVP space battle with a few hundred ships on each side.
A few pointers:
- EVE is a virtual world more than a game (a la WoW), thus the freedom you have
- Empire and low sec (0.0) are both offer lots to do.
- Joining an active corp is a must, and with an Ailliance the better
- Both PvE and PvP can provide lots of fun, though PVP is where the real treat in EVE is
- In EVE you’re free to do anything: trade, mining, manufacture, PvP Combat, missions, etc
- EVE is not suited to everyone, has it’s own flaws, but that doesn’t make it a bore; 170,000 player would disagree with you on that!
Keep an opened mind and ask around in the public channel. Believe me, you’ll find lots to do!
Fly Safe!