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To the new, curious, who are thinking of trying EVE
Danag
Member UncommonPosts: 67
It's been almost 3 years and over 36 million skill-points now, in the world of EVE Online, I'm STILL HOOKED!
I've been in a Caldari Nighthawk for quite some time now, which is a "Command Ship", and is seriously kick-ass. I still have an excellent time running Agent missions, as well as helping out with Fleet-Ops.
The detail, the shadows, the stations, the other ships flying around (NPC and Player alike), everything looks fantastic. It always feels "busy, busy, busy" out in space, be it a high sec. or 0.0, and anything in between. Since the new graphics update things only got prettier, that's for sure!
The economy in this game is seriously real-world intense. A player can make ISK simply "buying low" and "selling high" from station to station. Supply and demand are constantly causing prices to fluctuate, unlike most games where the NPC traders will buy X item for Y amount each and every time. This gives those players that don't enjoy combat an option for earning a living.
For those who enjoy it, you can become a miner. Mining materials that player crafters require for manufacturing goods. An excellent way to make ISK in the game.
For the most part, players are responsible for all products available on the market. From simple items like ammunition, to ships, to player-owned stations, player crafters pretty much manufacture everything. Yet another way for players to earn a living, and apparently the most profitable.
If all that doesn't float your boat, you could always get into politics and just run your own corporation.
Any way you feel like earning ISK in-game, though, can help you actually pay for your subcription. EVE is one of the only games that I know of where a player is allowed to use in-game currency to purchase Game-Time-Cards. You use GTCs for your monthly subscription. So basically you have the ability to play for "free"!!
PvP is a 24/7 thing in EVE. You can attack any one and any thing, at any time. Just be prepared for the possible consequences. Attack another player in a high security zone, and the local police will jump you unless you have "Kill Rights", and trust me, the local NPC police will pummel you quicker than anything! Try collecting that 200mill. ISK bounty, being offered for the corpse of a fellow player, and you might just end up biting off more than you can chew. That being said, some zones are dangerous for new players to enter. I was player-ganked multiple times by player-pirates in bigger, stronger ships back when I started my life in EVE.
The skill training in EVE is the most excellent I've ever seen. Gone are the days of XP-grinding! You buy a skillbook and select it to train. Low level skills train in as little as 20 to 40 minutes. The higher up you go though, the longer a skill takes to train. So you wanna fly that fancy Dread? Heh, get prepared for some serious training time, and ISK for all those skill books. Only one skill can be trained at a given time. But you can stop training in one skill, without losing what you've already accomplished, and start training in another at any time. So you can train those long-timer skills over night, while you're sleeping, or during the day while you're at work. Then when you login to play for a while, halt the training and train a quick skill or two. Then before you log off, you restart the training on the long-time skill, and it continues where you previously left off. It's sort of like reading a book. Short stories take only a few minutes, but those long, full-blown titles take days to read.
Then, of course, there's what's known as 0.0 space. This is the lawless zone of EVE, where player alliances run things, and large Fleet-battles between these alliances turn the tables on who's in and who's out. Player stations, jump-gates, refining stations, players run everything in 0.0. If you get lucky enough to find a good player corporation to join, who's part of a big 0.0 alliance, you will seriously have some fun pew-pewing! I've had more fun with the last 0.0 alliance I was in, in the 3 years I've been with EVE. And once I finish fattening up my wallet running missions, I'll be heading back out to 0.0 once again.
All-in-all EVE is the most original MMORPG I've ever tried, and I've tried a lot. CCP is always adding new hardware, or server-side code to update things, so it just keeps getting better and better. There are always other players online. They've set the record for most logged-in players at one time on countless occasions, since the entire online-world resides on one single server environment. No worries about "joining the right server" when you start, so you can run with your group of friends!
My relationship with EVE-Online has been a long, fullfilling one, and I see it continuing for a long time coming.
Try it for free, even: Free for 14 days
See you online!
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Danag
Comments
CCP needs to hire you for the PR dept.
Real Edit : I agree with the OP
And i am seriously, not trying to troll i love the economic concepts in this game, i hate how nothing is ever new. You use one turrent, one drone, one electionic weapon , and one missle weapon (can do it all right off the bat) and that is the extent of combat.
Make one item , you have made them all. Mine one mine ... you see where this is going. I want interaction.
Think of wow or other similar games you want to use 5 mones click on each , now you will automaticly use them whenever they are ready and you can stick, and or relitive position doesn't matter. IE you click 5 buttons and then you wait for stuff to die , maybe an 1/2 hour.
Sorry i love the concpet of eve i hate the system they used to carry it out, its simply boring.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine
Those who like this game really like it....so i'm not here to deter that but a lot of the community play with blinders on and spew tons of venom against those who dare to burst the bubble. They depict this utophia (anti utophia ?) universe and insult those that express alternate opinions.
The actual combat system is very repetitve.
The mission running system is very repetitive
the pvp system is fun but if you play in an alliance you pretty well give up your game time to some Fleet commander half a world away and his motives and intentions (which often remain unknown to the peons)
Flying said command ship will take you a long time to get skilled up for and there's nothing you can do besides purchase "implants" that will speed up skill training.
The backdrop is suposed to be space but its more like a vacum. There are actually very little space objects / aspects to teh game world.....very very unimaginative.
The pvp aspects get all the loving the pve and "crafting" aspects get very very little if any.
CCP has installed a governace committee made up of players because there is always the underlying suspicions of dev neutrality because devs do indeed play the game.
There are a lot of good player communities in the game overshadowed by one of the worst communtites ive ever seen in my 10 years of mmorpg gaming.
Its one of the most original, unforgiving games I have ever played and I have tried to like this game so many times now i cant count but at the end of the day its a pvp game made for pvp minded players. If you want ot pvp in spaceships this if for you the rest of the people are tehre to be fodder for them.
Very nice post imo, maybe I'll enjoy it as much as you?
Currently restarting World of Warcraft
Heh.. Thanks.. They say people who like EVE really like it, and I would be one of those people,
I understand people who dislike it claim the missions are boring, or the PvP is too unforgiving, or combat takes no skill, or mining is boring, or etc. etc. etc. But for every MMO there are people who like it, and people who don't.
Let's look at manufacturing first. Since I don't have much experience in this area, I don't have much to say, but I can at least promise this will be a short paragraph, LOL. I admit I prefew to pew-pew stuff over mining, or crafting, or whatever. But please, someone, name an MMO where mining and crafting is "exciting", heh. But... If you like mining or crafting, or other aspects of non-combat professions, then it's not boring to you... You enjoy it, that's why you do it... It doesn't take any "skill" either, though. No more, no less skill than combat takes. But you do what you like. You pay to play, so you play your way. I don't see why one should feel the need to claim you'll only enjoy mining or crafting "if you're brain dead". A person who enjoys mining or crafting can say the same thing about a person who prefers combat.
Ok, now on to combat,
Missions, in most MMOs, are pretty repetitive. Your basic Hack'n'Slash game has your basic Hack'n'Slash missions, for the most part. Go here, kill this guy, grab this loot, bring it back. So combat missions are no different in EVE, really. Go here, kill this guy, sometimes grab his loot, head back to your mission agent.
However, you don't have to run combat missions. For the non-combat orientated there's non-combat type mission agents. Delivery missions, research missions, etc.
True, I'd like to see more missions myself. But seriously, missions will eventually repeat. Any MMO that has this type of system will eventually dish out repeat missions.
Combat takes no skill. Well, let's look at this. SWG, Guild Wars, LOTRO, EverQuest, WoW, CoH, RF Online, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online... I've played them all, and many, many more... Not much skill here either. Once your 'toon obtains certain skills, you figure out how to use them, and you learn what works best, it really doesn't require any "skill" to enter combat. Heck, many games you can even write and use in-game "macros" which will do all the work for you anyways.
I'm not claiming that combat in EVE requires any real "skill" either. But it's no better or no worse than any other MMO. You train skill-books that allow you to fly certain ships or use certain equipment. You fit your ship with random equipment; launchers, turrets, shield extenders, sheild boosters, armor plating, armor reps', afterburners, target painters, logistic equipment, whatever... Once you figure out what equipment works for your style of play, you pretty much just continue using that setup. Upgrading your equipment to better equipment of course, but still pretty much the same equipment.
Then, while you're in combat you activate this, that, or the other piece of equipment. If you're using missles then you target-lock your intended victim, and active your launchers. Using turrets? Then same thing, target-lock activate turrets. You like to use drones (the equivalent of "pets" in other games), then target-lock and sic' your drones. Your shields are low, time to activate your booster for a few ticks. Armor vanishing? Time to activate your armor reps' a few ticks. Run out of ammo? Time to reload. Really, there's no "skill" involved in most MMOs. Especially in PvE. You run missions to earn ISK (in-game cash), LP (loyalty points with your agent, which can be used to buy stuff), or scoop some loot. Same as other games. However, in most MMOs you XP-grind, money-grind, and loot-grind. In EVE you don't XP-grind your skills. When you grind, you're solely grinding for money or loot, since skill-training is entirely different than any other MMO out there.
PvP combat in EVE is a little different. You still don't really need "skill". But you better know how to fit your ship for survival, and you better know how to use the in-game skills you have, if you and your fleet are going to stay alive. Logistic pilots assist with helping the combat pilots stay alive. ECW ships assist in keeping the opposing fleet jammed. Quick little ships such as frigates often-times act as tacklers; to hold down targets, or look-outs, flying ahead of the fleet to their final destination.
It's not much different than a Hack'n'Slash game though, when you think about it. You've got your Tanks, your Healers, your Spies, your Rangers, your Beast Masters... Whatever... Same thing in EVE... You've got your combat pilots, your logistics, your tacklers/covert-ops, your long-range specialists (Stealth Bombers, Battleships), your Carriers (who use "Fighters", bigger versions of "drones", aka; pets), and so on and so on...
One of the points of EVE PvP to keep in mind, though... A 2 month nOOb has the ability to kite a 3 year vet'. Let's look at this. Here I am... In a Fleet op.. No one stepped up to take on the role of tackler, so I fit out a cheap frigate with a micro-warp drive and some warp jammers and webifiers so I can help hold down the targets. Up high I might have a couple light missile launchers or small turrets... Nothing that's going to cause much damage, but just enough to pew-pew with. At this point, I'm no stronger than anyone else in a frigate, and I'm certainly no stronger than anyone else in a bigger ship. Maybe my skills allow me to use better micro-warp drives, or allow me to "use" my equipment more efficiently. But I'm still in a frigate... I'm still very squishy, and if I'm not paying attention anyone will be able to take me out, be it another 3 year vet' or a 2 month nOOb in a frigate of their own.
Try making that claim in a "level-based" MMO. Put a level 10 warrior up against say a level 50 or level 80 warrior in your basic Hack'n'Slash game. The vet' could stand in an open field nekkid, with no armor and no weapons, and that poor level 10 player would never be able to kill him. And even weaponless and armorless that vet' would most-likely 1-hit-dead or 2-hit-dead that level 10 player.
Now, as for PvP being unforgiving... I'll admit, dieing in EVE is a bit more unforgiving than any other game I've ever played. First off, you better keep an updated clone, otherwise when you die you'll lose a chunk of your Skill-points. However, even if you do keep your clone updated, if you die you'll still lose any implants you have plugged into your head. Implants can run in the 10's of millions to purchase, so yea, this hurts bad. Now, even if your 'toon isn't actually killed (normally referred to has podded or pod-killed), you'll still lose whatever you're flying, and any equipment you have equipped or sitting in the cargo-bay (some will land in a "ship wreck" container, but most will get vaporized).
Yea, you can buy an insurance policy on your ship. And as long as you buy a 100% policy, and you're flying a regular Tech-1 ship, you should be good to get re-imbursed for the cost of the ship. But this in no way covers the equipment you had equipped or sitting in your cargo bay. And if you're a old-timer you're most likely using Tech-2 equipment or even "named" (looted or purchased) equipment, which is pretty pricey. Most times the equipment your ship is equipped with will add up to more than the original cost of your ship.
Now, if you're flying something like a Command or a T2 ship, you really get bent-over on the loss. The in-game insurance system doesn't seem to take into consideration the higher cost of these ships. It appears to work on just the "raw materials" cost of producing a ship. So for someone like me, who pilots a Command ship, when I get popped it hurts real bad. But hey, if you're doing PvP you better be ready to lose your ship. Actually, if you're doing PvP you better just assume you're going to lose your ship. Odds are you will. And the rule of thumb in PvP; Only fly what you can afford to lose.
When I first jumped into my Command ship, I barely flew it. Once I could afford to purchase a second, plus all the equipment I used, I started flying it for everything. Fleet ops, mining missions (running protection for the miners and haulers), anything and everything. And you know what? Eventually I lost it. Ran to help out a fellow corp'member who was mining alone (yea, bad idea) and getting ganked by a small fleet (8 opponents; 1 Battleship, 4 cruisers, and a few nano's). I jumped the gate, targetted and KOed 2 of the cruisers that were running lookout. The nano's flew in and tackled me, and nano's used to be almost impossible for a missile-tosser like myself to damage prior to a few recent changes in the gaming mechanics. Eventually the rest joined us at the gate, and we proceeded to party for about 8 minutes. Between being tackled and randomly jammed, I was still able to take out the other 2 cruisers, and was biting into the Battleship by the time they finally popped me. Luckily I was able to scurry off quick enough, in my pod, before they could pod-kill me, which would have also destroyed my implants.
Did it suck? Of course it did. Was I mad? Naaa.. It's a game.. I new what the risks were living in 0.0 space. And I new the risks when I ran to help my fellow corp'mate. But most of all because it was fun. The intensity of taking on 8 players, and surviving that long with no backup. Laughing at myself, and joking with the other players in "local chat" while we blasted at one another. And then, when it was all said and done, I got "Dude, that's one kick-ass setup" from the guy in the Battleship. Respect. Even though I got sniped, I still earned a little respect. I sent out the same, with a compliment to their tackling and "bumping" me all over the place, as well as a congratz' for taking me down.
Then the after-math.. The joking in "local chat" about how my Nighthawk tastes like chicken. The "good fight" from the opponents. The "thank you" from my corp'mate for losing my ship trying to help him out. The "good job" from other corp'mates and alliance'mates for being on the ball, and at least giving it my all, because I was patrolling the systems alone that night and didn't have to be, and especially because I ran to run assistance even though I already knew I wasn't going to make it in time. A miner against that many ships was a sure loss.
Was it expensive to replace my ship and all the equipment? Hell yes. But, oh well.. That's PvP in EVE... You fly it, you might lose it... Such is life in EVE,
If combat all of a sudden didn't fire me up, I could change gears.. In EVE you are not limited to one or two "professions". You can learn everything with one character. Of course, you can only train one skill at a time, so it's wise to plan out the skills you need to get where you want. But if you change your mind, then you just change your skill training. You don't have to start a whole seperate 'toon. You just branch out, purchase the new skill-books you want, and start training. Certainly can't do that in most other MMOs,
So, anyways, this post is way too long, time to close.
Do I love EVE? Naaa... I love my wife.. I love my sons... EVE is a game... I enjoy it... It suits me... I've enjoyed other MMOs over the years, but EVE has kept me the longest. I've never let my subscription run out, I'm active in-game very regularily, and I have the freedom to do whatever I want. Play pew-pew in 0.0, laser-mine an asteroid, run some trade-routes, whatever. Life in EVE is unlike any other MMO. You might love it.. You might hate it.. In the end, it's all good, 'cuz it's just a game, and it doesn't really mean anything. Once you exit the client, you're right back where you started, real life,
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Danag
Good post.
And to the guy with the green text...obvious disgrunteled WoW player.
-------------------------
Just want to chime in to thank the OP for his two posts, was a great read.
I actually let my brother read the thread and hes installing the Eve client as I type this.
thanks bro
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
edit- Yeah the OP wrote a great summary and is a good indicator how helpful the community can be!
Somethings about EVE could definitely use more refinement. Exploration takes a really long time to give you results and the process seems a bit complicated
To really enjoy the PVE, you need to group. You can solo a lot of the content but in order to really have some fun you usually need a corp. I cant stand playing this game solo one bit. Corps really make the game come alive. Without a guild, the game takes a huge nosedive after awhile I'm thinking (Im guessing, I've always been in corp)
It's for sure hard as nails. You have to make sure to insure your ships (T1 ships) and maintain a high SP clone. You cant just undock without thinking about this stuff or you will lose big
I dont know why but I seem to have an insane survival rate even though I live in 0.0. I make use of Intel and watch local and make true safespots, etc.
I think the Time based training brings the game down sometimes. Its just the way they set it up. You get locked in to the attributes you pick at birth and you cant change them. So you really gotta know what you doing or pay the price. You also will find it always impractical to have multiple characters on one account. I usually like to try different races / characters and like most sandbox games I've seen EVE also makes it impractical to have alts (unless you dual box, etc)
The PVE is ultimate suck solo but comes alive with Corpies. Last night did some PvE with more corp in an insanely hard exploration site in 0.0. Our main tank got waxed. I still had fun even though we got nothing but pennies for bounties on the few ships we did kill. never saw anything like it was like 20+ Sansha Battleships or something insane. barely got my ship out. I've been here for a year and still encounter new things all the time. I must have only seen like a small portion of this game and it's space
I do like how the devs are PvP minded but things like Jamming and stuff I wonder why that belongs in a PVP centric title. My corpmate jsut got blasted away by a Falcon last night and couldnt do anything. That seems extremely dumb too me. I hate Crowd Control with a passion (one of reasons I stuck with guild wars so long cause they lack Crowd Control which pvp is bout- allowing me to fight!). Anyway never fought a Falcon 1v1 myself (been lucky) so perhaps I ahve no idea what im talking bout on that point. I just hear bad things about that ship
Enjoyed the post Danag and I have never even played EVE. Where on earth do you guys find time for this stuff????......
i played eve online for a few years had 3 accounts 1 miner and 2 pvp'ers all my chars were over 22 mil skill exp each , was very fun game if you PVP alot other then that its dull , also make sure you got friends playing it helps to have friends at least like 3 or 4 cause then its fun
w00t new cartoon kotor but yet not kotor
Anyone who says EVE pvp takes no skill has no clue how to PVP in EVE. Solo or groups it's all about effecient fitting, and tactics.
As for the crybabies who say you can't be effective as a new player, You are wrong.
People playing for 3 years can't fly a certain ship (smaller then a capital ship) any better. These people just have skills for MORE kinds of ships or skilled for capital ships. A new player can be very effective early on, and with a focused path get into a nice ship (and fly it well) in a short time.
As for anything in EvE being for "the brain dead" I think that statement is just baffling. EvE is the game for people who are the opposite of "the brain dead". It is a very unique open sandbox. A game that has devs with the nads to not follow WoWs shadow.
I have also been playing EvE for over 2 years and is the only MMO (besides pre nge SWG) to keep me that long. EvE is a game in a different class then other kiddie MMOs. I can also vouch for Danag not being part of CCP considering he is my brother.
The skill training is best out of any mmo. Even if you have a life outside gaming your character still trains. There is no "Powerleveling". No PL beggars.
SHOHADAKU
Actually, you CAN change your attributes.
Equiping yourself with implants, and training the 'Learning' catagory skills will improve your attributes.
As for disgruntled players claiming that EVE is repetative. That maybe the case at the moment (but what games arnt?), but the developers have achnowledged this, and have announced that they're working on addming more varied missions, etc
Actually, you CAN change your attributes.
Equiping yourself with implants, and training the 'Learning' catagory skills will improve your attributes.
As for disgruntled players claiming that EVE is repetative. That maybe the case at the moment (but what games arnt?), but the developers have achnowledged this, and have announced that they're working on addming more varied missions, etc
Right. EvE CAN GET repetative if you let it. It's a sandbox. Nothing is leading you around by the hand like themepark MMO's. You do what you want. You skill for any role you want. Every character can learn anything in game. There is no character class restrictions. Thus a 3 year character can be great in many combat ships, industry, and market dealing.
I also agree corps and grouping make this game so much better. The NPC corp you start in is something you want to plan to leave after you find some direction.
I recommend looking up EvE University (player corp) as a starting corp with many players who make it a passtime to train and bring in new players to the game. They can help give you direction in the vast cold universe of EvE.
and last thing, for the love of all that is good, DON'T SKIP THE TUTORAL!
SHOHADAKU
Actually, you CAN change your attributes.
Equiping yourself with implants, and training the 'Learning' catagory skills will improve your attributes.
Nope, I can train all the learning skills I want + buy all the Implants I want but someone that created their character with more optimal stats will still train way faster
And that's the clencher. You have to create an avatar and compute the optimal path when you're a newbie- when you dont even know what a Spec ops is; what +PER +WILL and all that. I also didn't know how worthless +Charisma would be too me
I suppose that's where the 'roleplay' part is suppose to kick in. But I've never been comfortable making permenant decisions. Thats why I've always avoided Faction Warfare- don't want to permenantly be an enemy of the opposite space
"<--- Razz 6 base perception ain't that bad, but it leaves me wondering where I could be if I had started with 10 or 11..."
Hm, I was complaining bout my base attributes but I do have a base 10 PER. Guess others got it way worse then me.
30 memory after bonuses. And i don't even mine or use drones..
Great post.
Green text guy doesn't 'get it', but then again most people don't and that's OK - that's why it's a niche game.
I think the biggest hurdle most ex-WoW players face when coming to Eve is figuring out that when you log in, what you do is totally up to you. A lot of people see an NPC talking head, go 'Oooh! Quests!' and then mission grind 'till they get bored and quit because they've been conditioned to only follow explictely-stated goals. Which is why I'm always telling people to take missions with a grain of salt - do them for ISK - nothing else. Figure out what you like to do and go do it.
Personally I got tired of mining after finally training up to Exhumers V so I've shelved my Hulk and gotten into FW in a big, big way the last couple of months. Flying my Tristan around I'm basically a 15 million SP nub - I have less than 2 million SPs that actually count toward the ship, roughly about as much as someone who's been playing a month.
Having the year-and-a-half almost of experience playing Eve while doing something so totally new to my character has done nothing but increase my respect for how well the skill system is designed. Despite being rather badly handicapped I've mostly managed to avoid dying horrible. horrible deaths (well, after the first week anyway) and even gotten some good kills, not because I could actually beat any of them in a straight-up fight, but because I understand the system and was able to catch them off guard, in a pve fit, as part of a frig gang, etc. I'm getting close to being able to fly in Incursus with a fair degree of competency and I expect the disadvantages I face to shrink even further since I play to my strengths and my foes weaknesses, and use my head to choose my fights in a manner that plays to my advantage.
Be honest if you like trying out different paths/options you'll find that there really isn't that much of a bad starting build (well okay if you maxed charisma at the cost of everything else), my base skills are all in the 6-8 range and never really had a big complaint because I shifted paths all the time
I love EvE, but I can't play it for long because it does get boring at my play times. I really wish I could dive in head first but after about a month or two I give it a month or five off.
For the record, the guy with green text has valid points, you may not agree with his methods but dismissing him as a "WoW kid" just makes you look petty. Stop trying so hard to be "different," we get it already. Playing EvE, doesn't make you a better gamer, just one that plays EvE.