EVE-Online: The story of a pod pilot

Posted by BigWhale on May 11th, 2009 in Games | 2 comments

: Image via Wikipedia

I am someone who at first really, and I mean really, disliked Fantasy Role Playing games. I was more into tactics and strategy, no, not the real time strategies, since they didn’t exist at that time, but something more like Laser Squad or Deuteros. Somewhere in 1994 I was introduced to Ravenloft: Strahd’s Possession published by SSI. It was an all-nighter for me and the next day I didn’t go to school, I had to finish the game and beat Strahd in the final battle. I did it. Then I obtained all releases if Eye of the beholder and I was hooked.

After that it was Ultima and soon there was Planescape Torment, Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter nights, just to mention the Great Ones. I never was a hardcore gamer and I never will be. I don’t have enough time for it and I game out of sheer enjoyment. I don’t take games too seriously and I don’t cry about being dead with my brand new Sword Of The Insane Power lost in the heat of the battle. It is after all, just a game.

Along came online gaming. First person shooters I ignored mostly because I suck at them. As for the FRP games such as Ultima Online and Diablo on Battle.Net I somehow skipped. Pretty much I skipped all other online games that emerged in mid 90′s. At that time I was hooked on MUDs. Multi User Dungeons. Text based (yes, text based!) online RPG’s that I spent playing nights and days. The addiction was so big, that two of Three Wise Men developed their own version of mud code. Based on CircleMud it was a breed between MUD and text-mode Warcraft. It was never really played by anyone and the source code was lost along the years.

The only problem I had with role playing, was the lack of a futuristic, post apocalyptic or anything that didn’t involve swords, spears, daggers and shields. There was Fallout and that was pretty much it. Online space based RPGs? Everything more or less sucked. Then I found EVE Online.

Dear, good mother of god!

EVE is set 21.000 years in the future. Humans expanded and colonized the galaxy and used all the resources available to them. There was a war and a wormhole was discovered. Humans found New Eden, whole new galaxy that could be colonized. The wormhole collapsed and left a lot of people in new colonies stranded on the other side of the wormhole. Only five of these colonies survived and those are five different races that you’ll encounter in the game. Amar, Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar are playable and Jovians are the unplayable race in the game.

EVE Online learning curve

EVE is one of a kind. It has a unique skill system, unique advancement in the game and the most complex virtual economy and market that I have ever seen in any game. Playing area is vast. Thousands of individual stars that can be visited by players, along with numerous space anomalies and distortions. Players can engage in hundreds of PvE missions or participate in a huge PvP community where thousands of players join various corporations which can form alliances. Flying solo PvE missions can sure be fun but you’ve never really experienced EVE if you didn’t participate in a 200 vs 200 PvP battle¹. Professions, mini professions, jobs, pve, pvp. Eve is so complex that you’ll need months to get a grasp on what the game can offer and it will take you years to master one profession where you’ll be good at. If you’re ready to dive in make sure you’ve seen the EVE Online learning curve.

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