Im hooked on eve, i tried PotBS while playing eve, and i got bored and went back to eve. Just the depth of eve makes it awesome. Yes, you need a lot of patience. Its the most ruthless mmo iv played and i love it. I moslty mission run and mine but for example u can mine for 2 days or longer straight to get a ship (lol) and lose it in about a min the next day. Its awesome imo. Its my 3rd time comming going back to eve and i think the 3rd times the charm. No matter how many "breaks" i take i always seem to go back to eve.
PotBS has a much more hands-on feel to it. To get things done you're actively playing. EVE has too much of an AFK feel to it. You level up your skills while offline / AFK, and don't really "play" the game as much as I'd like. It's not like you can open your map and go find some decent PvP. You either wait weeks for an enemy alliance to attack your sector (which has really no purpose anyway), or you can fly around the massive but empty world looking for fights. Most end up in 10 vs 1 ganks if you try and solo.
EVE PvP is it's strong point, but it has too many issues IMO. I like the free for all style (like old UO), but the world is totally empty in most systems. In PotBS you see people almost everywhere, and can actually find fun PvP. Another turn off of EVE PvP was that there's really no reward. You risk your ship with practically no chance for benefit. In the end you always lose. All the 0.0 systems in EVE have basically the same resources, though some regions have different types. This makes NO reason to spend billions of ISK on an attack and siege of someone's system. There's no gain other than ego trips, which EVE players thrive on. PotBS at least gives you some incentive. Certain ports hold certain resources.
Judging a community is impossible, but from my experiences EVE players are less mature, yet more mature. EVE players are on the older side, as well as the more intelligent side, generally. They will let you know of this any chance they get. Just read the EVE forums, 90% of threads have a post saying "Go back to WoW, kid" or some other phrase of condecension. They view them selves as better than everyone in game as well. All the griefers and e-peen fanatics make it less fun. Every game has jackasses, but the overall arrogance and egotistical nature of EVE players turns many off.
Disclaimer: My statements are generalizations with facts only backed up by my personal experiences.
As with any time you ask for an opinion on a game, you're going to see people who think it's the best thing since sliced bread and those who think it's just a step up from death by Ebola. Like they said earlier, try it out for free and see what you think.
Speaking as someone who retired a 20-odd million skillpoint character when I quit, I have mixed feelings.
When I was first introduced to Eve it seemed like the most amazing MMO I'd ever seen. The world is beyond massive; even with all my time playing there are still whole regions I didn't explore. The players are given a very free hand to help, hurt, carjack and swindle each other, which had a strong appeal to my dark side. You can carve out and invest in many different kinds of virtual lives, and I tried a few: honest miner, righteous Navy defender, corporate extorter and ore thief in secure space, and pure blackhearted, evil piracy in unsecured space. If you're the type who enjoys fiddling with gear you can spend whole days tweaking the loadout of your ship(s) and experimenting with different fittings. If you're the type who wants to build a cutthroat merchant empire, you can do that too. Every aspect of space is dangerous and loss is very real. These were all impressive and incredible aspects of the game.
Then one day I realized that when you strip away the setting and look at actual combat itself, I was bored out of my skull. You turn on the guns and they fire themselves. You click the 'orbit target' button and the computer flies for you. In a small ship like an interceptor the only thing I was really doing was toggling on and off special-purpose modules like warp scramblers (prevents people from warping away) or webbers (electromagic flypaper so they can't crawl away). In a big battleship my only real concern was to maintain my defensive systems (read: click "repair armor" button every X seconds) while my ship's computer fought the battle. There's no maneuvering for weak sides in shields or armor, so a lot of times you just end up sitting there, occasionally clicking at each other.
Eve is like a giant funnel: At the wide end you have a massive amount of skills, ships and equipment to consider. Intrigue and danger lurk behind every rock, empires rise and fall, and fortunes are made, lost and stolen. At the narrow end, those things are compressed down into a handful of clicks so that the computer can play with itself. Truly, most battles are won in spacedock and with the decision to engage or not engage; not during combat itself. The actual combat plays out like a simulation of a simulation. You make a lot of choices leading up to that moment, but then in that moment you watch as the numbers crunch themselves into the expected outcome.
This works for a lot of people, either because the rest of the game is so rich -- which it is -- and/or because that kind of combat appeals to them. But after playing for some time I decided it just wasn't fun enough for me.
POTBS swims in the shallow end of Eve's gene pool when it comes to the richness of the universe. There are similarities but the equivalent mechanics are light by comparison. On the other hand you actually have to maneuver your ship to fight effectively, and even if the "avatar combat" is clunky you do at least have the option of sticking the enemy captain with a sword.
I'm sticking with the suggestion that you try it and see for yourself what you think of the game.
I've read a lot of posts on different forums/games/places written by different people under different circumstances.
This post is EXCELLENT. It has made me to register here and reply.
This post has so strong motivation, well-organized structure and cogent facts inside.
You've made a great work mate. Thanks. That's the way how people should describe this or that game. Outstanding.
I liked EvE as much as PoTBS. There is the same variety in both games: should I go rat? maybe mine some? or look at the market, maybe make some manufacturing runs? travel far away and make a new base of operations? or get in the PvP zones?
And, should I spend the time/money for a big sluggish ship with big guns? or go for the littler ship? what gun(ammo) type should I get? what extras on the ship? what ship skills do I need to train?
The big difference to me is "hands on", or "not". In EvE, you tell your ship where to go, and it goes there. You get in a fight, and you tell your ship to stay 500m away, and it does that.
In PoTBS, you have to steer the ship. There is no automatic moving. And, the wind is your engine, so you need to take advantage of the wind to move, and fight. Very "hands on".
PoTBS also has an organic feel to it: wind, water, sand, people; whereas EvE is all computerish, with no people and nothing organic.
The other interesting thing between the games is that they are more skill based than level based. In most MMO's, you gain health points as you level. For example, at level 10 you have 100 "hit points", and at 50 you have 1000 "hit points". Also, the chance to hit an enemy is affected by level: a level 20 has NO chance of even hitting a level 50, let alone damaging it. Both EvE and PoTBS are oriented towards your ship. A level 20 has the same hit points as a level 50, but the 50 can use a better ship. That ship has more hit points. It is the ship that is important, not the person's level. A level 20 can definitely hit a level 50, just the same as he hits a level 20, depending on the ship.
If you like PoTBS, and especially the economic part and ship construction part, you will probably like EvE. If you want to play in the sun and surf as a Pirate, PoTBS is better. Computer spreadsheet lovers will migrate to EvE
Comments
Im hooked on eve, i tried PotBS while playing eve, and i got bored and went back to eve. Just the depth of eve makes it awesome. Yes, you need a lot of patience. Its the most ruthless mmo iv played and i love it. I moslty mission run and mine but for example u can mine for 2 days or longer straight to get a ship (lol) and lose it in about a min the next day. Its awesome imo. Its my 3rd time comming going back to eve and i think the 3rd times the charm. No matter how many "breaks" i take i always seem to go back to eve.
My opinion....
PotBS has a much more hands-on feel to it. To get things done you're actively playing. EVE has too much of an AFK feel to it. You level up your skills while offline / AFK, and don't really "play" the game as much as I'd like. It's not like you can open your map and go find some decent PvP. You either wait weeks for an enemy alliance to attack your sector (which has really no purpose anyway), or you can fly around the massive but empty world looking for fights. Most end up in 10 vs 1 ganks if you try and solo.
EVE PvP is it's strong point, but it has too many issues IMO. I like the free for all style (like old UO), but the world is totally empty in most systems. In PotBS you see people almost everywhere, and can actually find fun PvP. Another turn off of EVE PvP was that there's really no reward. You risk your ship with practically no chance for benefit. In the end you always lose. All the 0.0 systems in EVE have basically the same resources, though some regions have different types. This makes NO reason to spend billions of ISK on an attack and siege of someone's system. There's no gain other than ego trips, which EVE players thrive on. PotBS at least gives you some incentive. Certain ports hold certain resources.
Judging a community is impossible, but from my experiences EVE players are less mature, yet more mature. EVE players are on the older side, as well as the more intelligent side, generally. They will let you know of this any chance they get. Just read the EVE forums, 90% of threads have a post saying "Go back to WoW, kid" or some other phrase of condecension. They view them selves as better than everyone in game as well. All the griefers and e-peen fanatics make it less fun. Every game has jackasses, but the overall arrogance and egotistical nature of EVE players turns many off.
Disclaimer: My statements are generalizations with facts only backed up by my personal experiences.
-------------------------
I've read a lot of posts on different forums/games/places written by different people under different circumstances.
This post is EXCELLENT. It has made me to register here and reply.
This post has so strong motivation, well-organized structure and cogent facts inside.
You've made a great work mate. Thanks. That's the way how people should describe this or that game. Outstanding.
Thanks!
if you like priates of the burning sea
you might like Voyage Century and its free
I liked Eve alot, but unless you are a basement dwelling, homebody with tons of time on your hands it's not worth it.
I liked EvE as much as PoTBS. There is the same variety in both games: should I go rat? maybe mine some? or look at the market, maybe make some manufacturing runs? travel far away and make a new base of operations? or get in the PvP zones?
And, should I spend the time/money for a big sluggish ship with big guns? or go for the littler ship? what gun(ammo) type should I get? what extras on the ship? what ship skills do I need to train?
The big difference to me is "hands on", or "not". In EvE, you tell your ship where to go, and it goes there. You get in a fight, and you tell your ship to stay 500m away, and it does that.
In PoTBS, you have to steer the ship. There is no automatic moving. And, the wind is your engine, so you need to take advantage of the wind to move, and fight. Very "hands on".
PoTBS also has an organic feel to it: wind, water, sand, people; whereas EvE is all computerish, with no people and nothing organic.
The other interesting thing between the games is that they are more skill based than level based. In most MMO's, you gain health points as you level. For example, at level 10 you have 100 "hit points", and at 50 you have 1000 "hit points". Also, the chance to hit an enemy is affected by level: a level 20 has NO chance of even hitting a level 50, let alone damaging it. Both EvE and PoTBS are oriented towards your ship. A level 20 has the same hit points as a level 50, but the 50 can use a better ship. That ship has more hit points. It is the ship that is important, not the person's level. A level 20 can definitely hit a level 50, just the same as he hits a level 20, depending on the ship.
If you like PoTBS, and especially the economic part and ship construction part, you will probably like EvE. If you want to play in the sun and surf as a Pirate, PoTBS is better. Computer spreadsheet lovers will migrate to EvE
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