The Moonshadow

@Rodj Blake

Yet even with PLEX in place people still op to do illegal RMT.

People who bankroll alliances with RMT, be it PLEX or illegal, are cute. Who doesn't love blapping a supercap fleet that someone paid good cash?

If I was going to start playing a PVE raiding heavy MMO again this would be it, it kept my attention the longest and had the best designed dungeon/raids of everything on the market IMO hands down. Not only that, but Trion has earned plenty of karma points by not only keeping their promises so far but also by pumping out new content like a machine.

@Kodiak

You're right about the actual gameplay not being for everyone. I know a lot of people who dislike the style of combat in EVE and are still waiting with baited breath for the next UO. When I first started it took me awhile to get used to the combat; although it has grown on me and I appreciate it the more I play, at the same time I fully understand it will be a deal breaker for many and respect that.

As someone who usually is playing 2-3 MMOs at any given time, I'm always on the lookout for more games to play as well. I was hoping Darkfall would be the twitch PVP sandbox of choice, and while it wasn't quite up to par I still have hope for 2.0; despite its shortcomings there were great things about it, they just need to fix its glaring flaws.

@Calfis

What Calfis said. If you are mining/ratting in nullsec chances are you are in an alliance and have this thing called an intel channel usually. When hostiles enter your space, people will report them and you can read it in the channel. If hostiles enter your local, if you are paying attention you will see them in the local channel and know its a good time to safespot, dock, hide in POS shields; whatever. Before I joined an alliance, I got by just fine ratting in nullsec solo using a cloak, safespots and keeping an eye on local. When in wormhole space, I survived by watching my dscan. No matter what you're doing PVE related, there is a way to avoid 99.99% of ganks by remaining vigilant.

The way EVE works is at some point you have to earn ISK. Then, when you want to PVP with small numbers or roaming, you often go after people doing their turn making ISK. You win some fights, you lose some fights; in the end you just supposed to have fun.

If you get upset when someone ganks you in a game like WoW where the penalty is a corpse run, then I wouldn't play EVE. The player-base that EVE was meant for, and retained successfully for close to a decade while growing consistently, appreciate the mechanics for what they are. Personally, when I lose ships I do get a little upset for a minute or two, but then I go and reship. Mostly, I'm upset at myself for making a mistake, I can always run a PLEX or two and replace what I've lost. If you can shrug off loses and even appreciate the significance of one then this might be the game for you; if you don't think you can then it's not.

@Djinn

You don't like FFA PVP and spending most of your ingame time looking at a spaceship? Cool, play another game. Last time I checked, the MMO market was rather saturated so it shouldn't be too hard to find what you're looking for in a game.

If you try to make a product that tries to hard to appeal to everybody a lot of the time you end up with a product that appeals to nobody. People who think this game sounds appealing and haven't tried it out should, everyone who thinks it sounds unappealing should pass.

I respect that you have certain tastes and simply put this game isn't for you.

http://community.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&nbid=28576

It's done.

@Pelti

If your characters have more than couple million SP I would try reactivating them.

The Gallente Federation stands for individual freedom, maintaining an open society and true democratic rule. The Caldari Stateis basically ruled by mega-corporations competing against each other for wealth and power yet telling the common person that 'The State' should always come before the individual. The Amarr Empire is a theocracy that is driven by a divine mandate from their god believing they are destined to rule over all the known galaxy. The Minmatar Republic is a confederation of tribes united against their common foe, the Amarr Empire, after an event centuries ago that resulted in a large number of them becoming enslaved.

As things stand now, roll a character based purely on looks and background. You start with frig 2 I think for that races racial, it takes an hour at most to train that for any other race. You don't have to fly your races' ships.

I've never used a spreadsheet to play EVE. Then again I don't trade, run an alliance or any number of more complicated activities made easier with them.

My advice to anyone wishing to keep engaged in EVE, join an active corporation that specializes in the things you wish to pursue. If you are doing something entertaining ingame you will be entertained and be motivated to keep logging in, simple as that.

@The Moonshadow

Oh by mentality possessed by GSF, I don't mean trying to get someone to kill themselves. What Alex did was unacceptable and he should be reprimanded. With that said, I highly doubt someone whose catchphrase is "kill yourself" seriously intended to cause the individual in question to harm himself. Regardless, there are somethings you can't joke about.

The mentality of the goons I'm referring to has more to do with Darius JOHNSON's whole alliance panel presentation which wasn't a wet fart. Every game like EVE needs a villain and they serve that role wonderfully. Love them or hate them, New Eden would be far less interesting without them.

Nice article, I enjoyed your 'Why I Play: Wurm Online' one too.

I love EVE for giving me the freedom to define my own ingame experience, for having consequences that add some significance to my victories and defeats, and for being all on one server where I can interact with people all the world over (even if not every interaction is a positive one).

The comment section is this thread has surprised me. So far it has remained level headed and reasonable (for the most part). After the 2 MittaniGate articles by Drain, I was expecting more of the same and not seeing that here is a breath of fresh air.

You wrote that article asking which game people would play if not for the community. I think the trolls on gaming media sites become far more visible than any griefer ingame. I continue to visit this site because I enjoy the articles, but this mentality that "people who play games that I don't need to be derided at every opportunity, MMOs are a zero sum game and mine has to rule them all" is far worse than even the mentality possessed by GSF IMO. Acting like they are in the best interests of the guy Alex called out yet at the same time commenting everyone in EVE is a sociopath, well that you fellow claim to be standing up for you just called a sociopath.

At least goons have some interesting stories to tell from their exploits occasionally.

@Borick

Muckracking isn't as bad as it sounds, trying to get an idea of what more or less a-political people feel about current political issues or politicians does serve a purpose. Unfortunately the results of modern muckracking tend to be similar to this; a-political people aren't all that aware of current political issues or politicians...

Well, considering the current narrative of US politics including the extreme polarization, sensationalist 24hr news cycle and more of less devolving what should be a mature discussion into a glorified source of entertainment I'd say its not all bad; sometimes ignorance is bliss.