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EVE Online Reader Review

Reader Review by Nookyalar

13 February, 2008

'EVE Online' Screenshot 1

I'm 4 days into the free trial, so I don't know if I should officially say I "own" the game. What I can say is that if you want to progress in this game, you will have to let it own you.

My mates and I have been looking for something that we can all dip into online and have a play. Now this is fine as far as it goes, but there doesn't seem to be much playing going on so far. There's research, planning, logistics, yes.

But I'm being made to point my space ship at a rock, watch the mined mineral being added to my ship (via a bar that fills up with colour), then tell the spaceship to go back to the base and via some more point and click, sell said mineral. Many times in a row.

That's right, you will have to refer to a 63-page treatise on mining, choose the most appropriate skills to learn in order to get ahead fastest, and point-and_click your way to (eventually) becoming a powerful force in the universe.

Want to fit your mining or weapons modules to your new ship? Well you can't - they have a different fitting, they are from an earlier time.

Want to sell that item? Okay set the price. You might want to adjust the price, as the current price is 89.53% below the current average. Ready? Sell. Oops, you have to re-package it.

There's loads of detail for you to get stuck into here. There's also loads of detail in amateur astronomy, learning a computer language or memorising a telephone directory.

Blimey, I could be watching films, learning about art or a new language. Actually, what I most want to do after going on EVE... ...is play a videogame.

3/10

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Comments: 1-14 of 14 in total

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Macross
13/02/08 @ 20:14
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Ive played eve on and off for a while now, so I disagree with you there, but only in a way.

Im glad i persevered through all the crap you have to do when you start, and i gotta say it is crap when you start. But there is a big juicey cake with cherries on it waiting at the end.

when you have a reasonable range of skills a good corp, and maybe a good alliance if you are lucky (which you can have all of pretty quickly if you look) the game takes on a new aspect. You see EvE is all about the social elements, without that, solo it is a hollow shell and unforgiving to the new player.
Gaol
14/02/08 @ 03:10
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I have to agree that its a massive timesink, and I couldn't get over the travel times, but 3 days is scratching the surface.

I think why it does well, is that its one of the very few sandbox style MMORPGs out there. It needs the player to invest time in making a niche, finding their place - its really a massive virtual playground/economy/warzone - it provides the tools and some structure and then says 'over to you'.

I just don't have that level of time or patience though, like you I need a quicker fix.

Edited 1 times, most recently on 14/02/08 @ 03:10
Kirly_Wombat
15/02/08 @ 21:52
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Good review, although the problems you list with Eve are what draws a certain type of person to it :)

The only reason I didnt stick with it more than a month was I cannot get into space games, Im still rather attached to seeing an avatar with arms and legs rather than a metal shape on screen lol.
wired009
18/02/08 @ 01:52
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Classic problems with EVE. It does have an unecessarily steep learning curve. There ought to be better documentation by the dev on different game play options. A lot of the literature on the website is generalized and leaves you to figure everything out on your own or constantly ask other players, who themselves may not always have the answer. It's not an efficient system. The time investment involved is also too high. You can't really have meaningful, short game experiences like you can in most other games. This is one of those games that you really shouldn't get too involved in for the sake of your personal well-being. It will drive you mad from the constant "I wish this gameplay element was done some other way" moments. If you can afford the time and money. I would keep your character training going so you will have access to the right items when the time comes, and play another MMO as you wait for initial training skills to complete. After a couple weeks to a month of doing this you will have a much easier time accomplishing basic operations.
Nephirion
19/02/08 @ 23:59
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I think Eve is the most boring game ive ever played apart from Freecell.
Crovax20
20/02/08 @ 22:26
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Meh Eve is pretty good. But it really depends on what you do. Mining is just something you should do when reading stuff or something like that. Or get something that mines really fast :p

No, in EVE you have to do whatever suits you! Try hooking up with some other new players, train some basic skills for pvp and make a frig swarm. A couple of frigs will kill a lot of things! And it doesn't take ages to learn the skills either. Other then that, yes its boring when you start out
Krun
21/02/08 @ 03:03
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I totally agree with the review.
If you stick at it for a whole month you can then you can look forward to enjoying the amazing tedium of traveling for hours and hours and hours though different colored screen savers and then just as the tedium takes you into some zen state of hypnosis some one blows you up. You can then spend hours and hours traveling about to buy everything you just lost. Yes the Fun never begins in EvE.
Macross
23/02/08 @ 03:13
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all i have to say is bah humbug.

i find the thrill of losing everything exciting. theres nothing like that to get the heart pounding in most other mmos. besides you can usually avoid it unless you are complete turnip. i guess i have best part of a years skills under my belt now and i find hte game pretty fun now.

early game ie first 2-3 months was unrelenting tedium though il give you that. im just glad i stuck it out, i cant stay away from the game for long its just so much... more then other mmos at the moment.
Rudrick
25/02/08 @ 11:22
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I playing Eve long time , 3 years and still play,I say ;9/10.
Kelduum
10/03/08 @ 21:25
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Heres the thing...

Eve a true sandbox, with very little rules, and some not particularly clear mechanisms. Its become a lot more newbie friendly in the last year, with clearer tutorials and guides, but it cant ever become entirely clear, as theyre is just so much complexity.

I tried it years ago, after it first launched, and it just didnt make sense, but when trying it again about 18 months ago, I found out about Eve University, and ended up joining. Thats where it all changed - all of a sudden, its not just you vs the universe, theres over 1000 other newbies, all learning from each other.

I stayed on in the Uni, and now hold a director position as Alliance Diplomat, smoothing over problems and resolving conflicts for the games main player-run teaching institution - just this weekend we had a smallish group of 100 students camping a gate in hostile territory, shooting anything which looked at them wrongly. The result was an amazing fleet battle with 100 noobs in very cheap ships vs about 10 players many years old with far more experieince and better ships. We won.

Eve isnt about the solo players, doing missions and mining on their own, its about the miniature society it has created, complete with its living economy and politics.
Iora
26/03/08 @ 11:23
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3 of my accounts have now past their 4th Birthday in EVE and in all that time I have been close to quitting twice. On both occassions my disgruntlement stemmed from my current position in the game and what i was doing with my time while online. And on both occassions i decided a change was needed.

I've been mining Veldspar in Empire, Arkanor in 0.0
Mission running in Empire, Rat hunting in 0.0
I have ran complexes, played around with the COSMOS agents.
Traded vast amounts of isk in the markets.
Manufactured and researched many many modules and ships.
Sat in gate camps, flew in roaming gangs, chugged along in node crashing fleet ops.
I have won and died in battles against incredible odds
Liquified noobs in over the top gank setups.

But by far the best aspect of eve is the social and political openiness of it all.
There is not a single game on the market today that can deliver the sheer depth eve can, and it can. (Despite what your 4day trial taught you) deliver that depth in adrenaline pumping heart stopping way.

My best experience in EVE was facing down a 10man gang with our gang of 4. We didnt kill them all only 4 or 5 but seeing them run and scatter was priceless. Fight lasted for what seemed an eternity and my hands wouldnt stop shaking afterwards.
I play EVE because no other game out there can raise my heart rate so high and make my hands shake uncontrollable with adrenaline.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 26/03/08 @ 11:42
Druadan
21/04/08 @ 18:14
#12
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You can't review a game like EVE during a free trial. You're not anywhere near the level of 'getting it' that you need to be in order to be able to compose a fair review of a game. If steep learning curves aren't for you, that's fine, but composing a review based around a couple of moments you thought were frustrating or tedious is just poor journalism.
MrMilad
17/05/08 @ 21:07
#13
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Completely agree.

I myself played EVE for about 5 months (around 2 years ago) and even in that time frame it failed to get interesting. The sole reason I played for 5 months was because my CS clan (who also grew to love EVE in a big way) started a corp, so some fun did come from mining with each other and doing low-sec runs.

That's the problem though, for the game to be fun it really relies on the players - which is the games greatest weakness, and strength. If you do manage to really get into the game, i can imagine it being fantastic, trouble is, it takes absolutely ages.

I don't mind investing 10 hours in a game (provided it's a long, in-depth one) to "get" it, hell I don't even mind investing 30 hours in a game to "get it" (as I did with Oblivion) - but months? No thanks.
Norfolk'n'Clue
13/01/09 @ 14:31
#14
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Druadan has it right. It is one of the most adrenal games out there, up there with Company of Heroes for actual physical manifestations of 'Fight or flight' syndrome. Few other games come close - and I'm only 2 1/2 months old in-game. Nullsec is the only place to be for me!

Comments: 1-14 of 14 in total

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