Vega Noir
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Posted - 2005.12.04 11:54:00 -
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Firstly, let me say that I am a veteran MMORPG player. My last game was WoW, which needless to say I quit. I have been searching for a worthy MMORPG for some time. When Eve first came out I simply dismissed it. Space? Ohh lord another SWG, they could never make a good MMORPG in a space setting I thought. So with the higher ratings and subscriber numbers lately on Eve, I thought what the heck.
All of my observation and/or questions are based on very limited play time of about 40 hourÆs total. I have done the tutorials, mined for money, upgraded a ship with more advanced items, done agent missions, explored some 0.0 space, traded goods, trained skills, bought implants etc etc.. Pretty much all of the basic mechanics of the game I touched on.
Graphics: At first, just like all of the reviews, I was pretty impressed by the graphics. After spending more time in the game exploring and such, it all gets redundant very quickly. Once you see a star or two, a moon or two, a nebula or two, a space station or two, thatÆs all you ever see. The graphics seem to get very mundane after a while, the only differences being this nebula now has a different hue color, or this moon is blue instead of orange. That's when I realized why the Eve directory is only 1 GB in size fully installed. Not many graphic files needed. I can't remember when a game was only 1 GB in size fully installed, must have been five years ago.
Automation: Everything appears to be "auto this" or "auto that". Press this button once; your skills are auto trained. Press the laser button in combat and orbit your target at the right distance and you auto fight your opponent. Select this system eight jumps away and turn on your auto pilot, come back in half an hour and youÆre automatically there. Turn on your laser to auto mine until your cargo hold is full. This has to be the most "hands off" game I've ever played.
Time sinks: Granted, you don't have to "level", but the time sinks in the basic mechanics of the game are some of the longest I've seen in a MMORPG. Everything revolves around money. Mine, kill pirates, do missions, get money. Use the money to buy next rank of skills, ships, weapons, implants etc. Mine, kill pirates, do missions, get money. Use the money to buy next rank of skills, ships, weapons, implants etc. The endless cycle of the massive time sink begins. Mining: Absolutely ZERO entertainment value whatsoever. Kill pirates: warp to their locations, orbit, and auto-shoot. Whoever has the better shields/ship/weapons wins. Go back, collect bounty if you win. After about the tenth time you do this, zero entertainment value. Do missions: take this letter to this station, go destroy this bot. Yawn.
Eve player guide: After reading most of the player guide I thought; where is the fun in these things? Learning about a legal system, buying and selling items in a market, watching skill points go up. These activities match more to what my accountant does at work.
Travel: Jump gates are cool the first couple of times you do it. After that, when youÆre jumping to a system thirty jumps away and your reading a magazine for two hours, I think the novelty wears off.
PvP: I'm obviously vary limited here. I have PvP'd, it appears most of the action happens right when you warp out of a jump gate and you get destroyed by five portal campers sitting there. Whoever has the more expensive ship, with the better weapons/shields/armor etc wins, unless they are a complete retard and use weapons/tactics you aren't vulnerable to. The death penalty system is a tad harsh. I have not been in PvP where my pod was not destroyed. Loss of skills, time, isk from insurance. PvP is very hard for the rookie, when the game's been around for years and people are loaded.
I have found the people online very helpful. I write this post to see what others think, and to maybe enlighten me as to why I should invest such huge time and why they find the game so engaging. I am at a loss. 
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