What draws players to EVE while keeping others away?

I'll be honest and say it out loud: "EVE isn't for everyone". I've never "gotten" the whole Final Fantasy thing, but that doesn't mean it's not a great game for millions of players out there.

It's a healthy MMO market when there's enough variety out there that different game style are made for different gamers.

I for one have enjoyed, the game, the lore and the community since day one.

CK
http://www.crazykinux.com/

That's totally untrue actually. There are quite a few corps out there that will take in noobs, equip them properly with what they are skilled to fly, and give them a role almost straight out of the trial period.

You should give it a go if that's the only thing preventing you from giving it a try.

CK
http://www.crazykinux.com/

Catching up to the older players is possible if you specialize. If it is combat that interests you only train combat skills and in six months you can be at the top in combat. It takes even less time for other "professions" in Eve. You can be a fully trained trader or industrialist in two months time.

Ahnog
http://ahnog.us/eve.htm

I think FFXI takes the cake for worst UI in any game ever...although I haven't played EVE.

You'll be happy to know that they're working on a complete overhaul of the UI. No specific info has been released yet, but make sure to keep an eye on it!

I can definitely see that being an issue. It's unusual to have an MMO where you're not your avatar. That's changing though -- Ambulation or 'Walking in Stations' is going to be demo-ed by the players at Fanfest in November. The video preview they've shown looks interesting; we'll see how this turns out soon enough though.

This won't actually change the game mechanics of how you fly, which is much of EVE's content. It's just going to add another aspect of gameplay to EVE.

I do believe that actions in EVE have consequence. Here are a few possible scenarios:

I queue up a Level 4 mission and just warp in, not having learned about what I'll face in there. I lose my battleship because I'm not tanked against the proper damage types, nor am I dealing the proper damage type. My ship is destroyed and I *do* collect insurance, but it doesn't cover my faction hardeners. I acted hastily to try to tear through the PvE content for more isk, I paid the price.

I'm in 0.0, belt ratting in an empty system, and I come across a Commander battleship spawn. The module drop from this NPC could be worth billions. But someone jumps into local. I could very well warp to my safespot and wait for the potentially hostile pilot to leave. I have many safespots and a cloaking device, so if I keep moving he'll never catch me. But if I do this, I might lose this NPC to him. I stay to quickly try and kill it, but the hostile warps in on me. I'm set up for ratting, he's set up for PvP. I die horribly to him because my greed got the better of me. I made a bad choice and paid for it. I lost my expensive implants with the podkilling and awake 30 jumps away in Empire in a cloning vat.

In neither of these scenarios can I float my spirit back to where I died and begin again with all my gear more or less in tact, or have my friend res me. This is part of what I mean by consequence. And it's why PvP in EVE can get your heart pounding. There's the risk of loss that adds to the excitement. And once you reach the point where you're flying Tech II ships - largely uninsurable for their actual value - you're putting a lot of your time and effort (not to mention your isk) on the line. Sometimes you'll win, but eventually *everyone* makes a wrong move. As CK mentioned above, this kind of balls out PvP/risk taking isn't for all MMO gamers. It's just one of the things EVE offers that's different than a lot of other MMOs.

I'd say you're right about the old guard not liking the game becoming more noob-friendly. Despite their protests, EVE *is* friendlier to noobs than it has been in the past. The tutorial system is much better/more comprehensive now than it was just a year ago. New characters begin with many more skillpoints, and thus things they can do in the game, than the vets who were in EVE from the beginning. Granted a new player will never 'catch up' to the old timers but as ahnog mentioned above, if you specialize you can do something you like as well as the much older player. The 80 million skillpoints a 2003 player has cannot all be put to use in any one task.

I'm in complete agreement with you on the issue of dev meddling as well. To say I was disheartened by this was an understatement and was very surprised that the dev in question wasn't fired over spawning the BPOs. Much has been said on this topic, and should be, but my comment is already hitting Tolstoy length.