Cephas Borg
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
1
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Posted - 2013.02.11 02:35:00 -
[1] - Quote
There are two areas of Eve that I'm having difficulty overcoming my reaction to.
The first is the completely unrealistic space physics, easily seen the instant you turn off an afterburner. That's not how spaceships move in any universe, so why does it happen that way in Eve?
Oh, I've heard the "arguments" against reality - it would take too long to turn ships around, etc, etc, etc. But that's the whole point of inertial modifiers - more numbers means your ship handles less and less like a real ship. Currently those numbers mean absolutely nothing.
I also realise the physics are a huge compromise with hardware restrictions, easy playability for new players, and so on and so forth.
But we don't need to include planetary gravity in these equations - just zero-gee. It would make the game so much more realistic, and would drastically level the playing field against the cartoon-capable "players" who treat it like some sort of Mario Kart in space.
The other aspect of Eve I'm having to fight against is the 4th-grader-based naming systems and resource usage of all ship modules.
As a physics nerd, I find it difficult (to say the least) to comprehend how improving a rocket's range, for a piece of equipment that is independent from my ship, could possibly cause my capacitor or CPU to decrease (note that I'm not talking about the silly CPU usage, but an actual removal of a resource).
And how does a missile's targeting improvement require powergrid, but not CPU? Or projectile weapon falloff deplete shield capacity? It's just ridiculous.
I think we would all agree that naming a piece of equipment is a privelege, and when that privilege is wasted, to the detriment of the playability of the game, then I think we all agree that that's a big problem.
If Eve can move away from the Saturday-morning-cartoon physics and 4th-grader naming conventions, and move into real physics and realistic resource usage, we not only learn something useful for ourselves, but the game becomes far more immersive and realistic - and that can only be a good thing.
I think the developers have spent tremendous amounts of skill and energy and dedication getting the market, trading, and skills mechanisms to the point where there's nothing else out there that comes close to the detail, sophistication, and sheer realism of those features.
But enough is enough. It's time for physics to take a driving seat. Sir Isaac Newton would not play Eve, I'm sure of that. He'd be laughing too hard.
Right now, Eve feels more like a lipstick-on-the-pig turn-based board game. Oh, the lipstick is gorgeous in every way, and gets prettier every release. But the pig still stinks.
I'm sure that few players will want to relearn how the game mechanics work, and maybe it's too late to actually turn the juggernaut around. But I'd like to see if it could be done. I'd like to see Eve reflect more of the great things in our universe, instead of fewer and fewer. Oh, I'll keep playing - Eve is one of the very few fun things in my life at the moment. But I'm hoping it can be greater than real life, rather than the dim, and ever dimming, caricature it's turning into, physics and reality-wise.
Thanks for reading. I hope this generates some discussion and good ideas.
Cheers everyone,
Cephas B.
P.S. I made a copy of the post before consigning it to the Sansha Waste Disposal System! :)
Minmatar OutBond
Sebiestor Journeyman
Real-life Cyborg
Part-time Poet
Philosophical Sceptic (Will work for food / ISK) |