So I've been thinking of checking out EVE
DocFrazier
Gladbrook, IA Icrontian
The questions I have, without having looked at any publisher info, is; Is it still going strong, and how hard is it for a brand new player to start-up? Is anyone here still playing?
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EVE has a hell of a learning curve, but I'm sure some of the EVEites here can help you out.
I still play occasionally (though I've been slacking for the last week or two). Not sure about anyone else.
You should try it, it's a bit harsh on newcomers, but after a while you'll fit in just right.
It's a bit old but EVE hasn't changed
anyone got a trial for it?
-I've heard the game is really advanced, and you need a masters degree in physics, economy and engineering to even grasp the basics of the game. Is it true?
-I've been trying to locate some info, but I've fallen short; how is the gameplay? Sure, you fly around in ships, but some screenshots I've seen show FPS-style gamplay on planets and shit. How much variation is there to this? Are the controls difficult to learn?
-How much is it per month (this is a subscription game, not)? I've failed to find any info on this on their homepage
-How is the balance between simulator, RPG and shooter?
-I've also heard all the other players are evil, and will kill you immediately if you make a bad move. Is it true? How bad is the penalty for dying? If I'd like to pay to get assraped and called n00b by 13-year-olds I might as well play CoD.
-Does IC have a gang/clan/group I can join?
Gameplay is all flying in ships or sitting in a station. The FPS stuff on planets comes from a related game called Dust 514 that's a team FPS game for Playstation 3. What's cool is that players in Eve can help players in Dust by flying to the Dust player's planet and launching orbital strikes. In Eve, flying ships is easy for the most part. Just click on where you want to fly and the ship heads that direction.
It's $15 USD per month. You can also buy game time with the in-game currency if you want. It's pretty expensive though.
The game is totally a sandbox. It's an PRG in that you have skills that progress that improve your abilities and open up new ships and equipment for your use. Unlike most RPGs, the skills aren't based on spending skill points, but instead they're trained on a timer. Each level of the skill takes longer than the previous. For example, a Lv1 skill make take 15 minutes to train. Lv4 of the same skill may take 2 days. Lv5 (the max) may take a week or longer. What's cool is your skills train weather or not you are logged in.
EVE is cutthroat. There are no areas in the game that are 100 percent safe. You will die. Everyone starts out in high security space. It's illegal to attack other players there. Doing so gets the NPC police called on the attacker, and they destroy the attacker's ship. You can spend your entire game time in this type of space running missions, doing industry, and generally having a good time. From there, you can venture into low security space where the cops won't intervene, null security space where player corporations control the systems, and wormhole space where the NPCs are insane and anything can happen.
Dying in Eve results in you losing your ship usually. You do not get it back. You can salvage the wreck to get some of your equipment back, but your investment is usually gone. It's an annoyance. The real pain comes from being podded. This is when your ship is destroyed and your character is ejected into the escape pod. If your escape pod gets blown up, your character dies and your next clone is activated at the last station you effectively saved at. Podding destroys your character's neural implants which are used to boost your skill training time or improve other attributes like weapon damage or armor repair speed. This is usually a very costly loss.
IC doesn't have a clan really. We do chat in a private channel together but most of us are scattered across the universe doing what we enjoy.
I've had the most fun being involved in with this group lately: www.minerbumping.com. We operate as outlaws in high security space, suicide ganking miners who refuse to comply with our rules. The character I use with this group was able to fully participate in all activities within 2 days of starting out, and my ship losses are reimbursed by the corporation (clan/guild basically).
Other ways to get involved early on can be Faction Warfare where you join the player militia for one of the NPC factions and battle other player militias for control of systems (this can be quite lucrative), or joining a large group in null sec that will help you learn the game, provide you with ships, and get you in lots of epic space battles.
Eve is totally what you make it. You can be a good guy space trucker and haul freight. You can be a pirate and blow up other players. You can run missions. You can mine asteroids. You can explore space anomalies. You can lie, cheat, and steal. Come play.
The gameplay is not what everyone wants from a space sim. There is no joysticking, no twitch fighting. You point your ship, set its velocity, and select modules to use on your targets. Damage dealt is a function of weapon size, target size, distance, and angular velocity. Your reaction time to new information, however, can be important. PVP is more about outthinking and counter strategies than flying skill.
You can pick up a free 2-week trial and see if the game is for you.