EVE Online it's not just a ships-in-space MMO, it's much, much more. The game really strives to give you as much freedom as possible, and it’s close to a sandbox. This makes player interactions the main focus of the game and not the "ships-pew-pew" as you might believe. Things that are considered grieving in other games are fair game here (including scamming). All players are part of a persistent world, from the day 1 players to the 10 year+ veterans and all this happens on a single server. There are systems in place to provide safe zones for players, but they are not meant to make things 100% safe. You can be a target even if you're docked, you can fall to scams that are in the chat window, if you're greedy or naive, or get preyed upon by the market prices that are set by the players. Except for a few things, everything on the market, including the prices, are set by the players. Not sure why, maybe it's the steep learning curve, or is its harsh nature, but the player base is more mature than in other games.
EVE is also an RPG game, here you train skills passively, you can put a bunch of skills in the queue and return weeks later if you want. Out of the gate you won't be able to do much but you'll still have a place in PvP fleets. If you're space rich you can buy your monthly subscription with in game currency, or you can use real money to get in game money by buying these subscriptions in the form of a game item called PLEX, and sell them on the player driven market. If it sounds pay-to-win, it's not, at least in my opinion, you're just skipping some grind. This is how people convert the prices of some ships in $ when they say what they lost, it has an interesting ring to it hearing how somebody lost a $3000 ship in a game, or that there were $25.000+ lost in a battle.
The ships are grouped by classes and roles. There are modules that only go in specific slots that your ship has in limited amount. The way these modules "fit" is in my opinion a bit too arbitrary for my taste, and their requirements also. Ships have maximum speeds and projectiles have limited range. You move your ship in a way a captain gives orders, so to speak, and you have an outside view only. A lot of the stuff that has to do with flying in space, I find a bit clunky and lacking. It's not bad, but I don't think it's good either. The developers keep perfecting this flawed system but at least all expansions are free and you just need to take care of your pilot license (PLEX or subscription).
In the picture you can see the possibilities that the game offer. For many players the game becomes as a second job due to its complex nature and the vast possibilities it offers. But no matter what "career" path you choose, it's probably better if you'll join a player run corporation. There are corporations that take new people and teach them the game (EVE University), there are corporation that are purposely at war all the time just for fun and they accept anybody that wants to deep their toes in PvP (Red vs Blue), and many, many other. In EVE Online, when you lose a ship, you really lose it, so there is always the chance of a real loss. Couple that with hunting somebody, or you being the hunted one, and you can really get some adrenaline going, which few games can deliver.
Rating: The best ship, is friendship.
Recommendation: EVE is what you make it.
Article date: 29-Oct-2015
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