Mmmm I am a long time EVE player and I do like the game, obviously.... but I am really tired of seeing things like
Cons: Community and performance And then the score is a 7 (on a 1-10 scale)
I'd rate EVE's performance at a 5 or a 6 I'd rate EVE's community at a 5 as well. 7 is just too high for BOTH of those categories. Rest is spot-on though. Love the game... but really tired of seeing reviewrs list a 'negative' about a game and then turn around and give the same game, no matter what the title is, an "above average" rating in that very category. Oh and the score of 10 on graphics is a bit over the top. The new graphics are much nicer than the old ones but, frankly, the graphics don't deserve a 10. A solid 8 or 9 though.
Why would you rate comunity at 5? Its much better and more mature than in most mmo's ive played ..
Why would you rate comunity at 5? Its much better and more mature than in most mmo's ive played ..
Can't agree with you here. There are pockets of nice and not so nice and mature and not so mature folks in all online games. Community is really an opinion thing, not something you can nail down to a specific number that will apply for almost everyone.
Eve would get a 5 from me as well but so would just about any online game. One can claim that Eve has a better community than other games but that all depends on what you have experienced and not what it is in reality for everyone.
On the OP -- good review imo. Thanks to MMORPG for doing these types of things. And to the nay-sayers -- sign up to be a MMORPG.com reviewer and then come back and make your comments imo.
Respoding to the writers comment on my first post:
Yes I did read both parts of your review and my comment was in no way a critiscism of you but a complement to the depth of the game. I agree with some of the earlier sentiment that games such as Eve can only be reviewed in summary fashion unless you have been a long term player and hav had the opportunity to try all aspects.
You clearly, and honestly, did not try to portray yourself as such and therefore I stand by my complementary comments of both the game and your review.
Respoding to the writers comment on my first post: Yes I did read both parts of your review and my comment was in no way a critiscism of you but a complement to the depth of the game. I agree with some of the earlier sentiment that games such as Eve can only be reviewed in summary fashion unless you have been a long term player and hav had the opportunity to try all aspects.
You clearly, and honestly, did not try to portray yourself as such and therefore I stand by my complementary comments of both the game and your review.
Thank you! I just wanted to make sure you hadn't missed the first half
Laura "Taera" Genender Community Manager MMORPG.com
I read both portions, and as a relatively new player I could easily relate. I've been playing for 7 months or so and I took a slightly different path so I got to see a few things you didn't (spent a few months in 0.0)
But overall, I've not had time to touch the crafting side, or the exploration, or the mining, or about a dozen other things. Which is why I love the game, so much to learn, so much to do.
The review was well done, you only spoke about what you experienced and pointed out those areas that you couldn't offer a detailed opinion on.
Sure, someday someone with 5 years experience can write an in-depth review if they like. But I'm thinking it might be better to publish that in a paperback novel.
Who the hell are you, and why should I care? Congrats! You are a victim of Trollstar!
i can only agree on a point or two, as with any game that is a "lord of the flies" game it will always remain small, a niche game at best. while eve has very nice graphics it doesnt make up for a game that is "on the rails flight and combat resolution" , both of which are simplistic and a big negative in my book. the economy is what you make of it, sure there is scamming but it's easy to avoid.
you said it best, "if you arent my friend, you are my income" (i love that) adding consequence to this game would make it much better and draw more people.
folks disagree or agree on this point but most will say a corp is mandatory, allies etc. the solo player running around in low sec, or null need not apply. not saying they cant, i had fun smack talking gatecamps and causing all sorts of trouble in various regions (whilst not getting caught) but for a player wanting to make a difference by any means (scamming not included) its impossible.
if eve had newtonian physics (more realistic space flight and combat resolution) it would encourage others to venture out confront those "brave corps" and probably beat the hell out of them. as it is it looks like jumpgate will be what draws folks wanting more than a lord of the flies experiance on a rail.
and for the record i still think eve, for now, is the best space sim going.
can you smell that?!!...............there is nothing quite like it.....................the smell of troll in the morning............i love that smell.
Originally posted by Clattuc As pieces by underqualified reviewers go, very pleasant. If that 8.5 becomes MMORPG.COM's new official rating, it should appear with an asterisk, because it's meaningless. If you are going to review a five year old game with a slow development path, it's not enough to roll a toon and play for a few months, then cheerily admit "I didn't try" half of the game's mechanisms. You look over the shoulders of one or two veteran players who can demonstrate the advanced features and zones that your noob toon isn't ready for.
Actually, this is *exactly* the kind of review that I think most people considering playing this game will want to read. I don't care if a game gets really deep and rich only after you've played it for years; I want to know how it plays at the beginning because, frankly, it's the experience of those first few months that's going to make or break a game for me. Finding out how "good" it might get after playing for a year or more is not a selling point because I don't give a rip. If I'm still playing the game after three months, I'll see that for myself, but if the initial few months stinks, then goodbye, game.
Laura's thorough and well-written reviews unfailingly focus on the newer player's experience and for that, I must say, I am quite grateful. It's not that I don't care about endgame content; it's that if I don't like how a game begins, the endgame features are completely irrelevant because I'll have quit long before then.
Mmmm I am a long time EVE player and I do like the game, obviously.... but I am really tired of seeing things like
Cons: Community and performance And then the score is a 7 (on a 1-10 scale)
I'd rate EVE's performance at a 5 or a 6 I'd rate EVE's community at a 5 as well. 7 is just too high for BOTH of those categories. Rest is spot-on though. Love the game... but really tired of seeing reviewrs list a 'negative' about a game and then turn around and give the same game, no matter what the title is, an "above average" rating in that very category. Oh and the score of 10 on graphics is a bit over the top. The new graphics are much nicer than the old ones but, frankly, the graphics don't deserve a 10. A solid 8 or 9 though.
Why would you rate comunity at 5? Its much better and more mature than in most mmo's ive played ..
Mmmmm lets see... why would I rate it a 5?
1) General attitude in every aspect of EVE life that "if you are not blue you are prey"
2) I have played just about every MMORPG on the market. Only in EVE have I EVER had a TS server hacked (not once, but multiple times, to multiple alliances). Only in EVE do players feel its "ok" to hack into other people's forums, webservers, teamspeak servers,etc... all in the name of winning at internet spaceships. This is NOT a mature community. Yes, there are many mature PEOPLE in the community and yes there are many OLDER players in EVE and more PROFESSIONAL players in EVE. But the community, as a whole, is pretty pathetic to be quite honest. In EVE it's commonplace for players to scam their corporation(guild)mates out of billions of isk in value (read: Months of in-game effort) just for jollies.
In EVE it's very common for players to try to trick new players into aggressing themselves so that the older player can get his jollies by blowing the newbie up.
And if you'd like a GLOWING example of the level of immaturity in EVE? Just take a stroll through the official forums, most notably the "Corporations and Organizations Discussions" Forum AKA: CAOD
If, after all that, you still think EVE has one of the 'most mature communities' out there. Then you're delusional. Don't get me wrong. I like EVE. Hell I've played it since 2005 and was in the Beta as well. But 'mature community' is NOT one of it's strengths. Yes, there are mature members of the community, and you can avoid the deadheads somewhat. But the overall community consists of cheaters, scammers, hackers, exploiters and all the other common drivvel you'll find in every other game. However, unlike in every other game, CCP does VERY little to curb antisocial behavior within the game (one of it's strenghts, yes, but it certainly doesn't raise the maturity level in the game).
And no, I've never, not even once, fallen for a scam. However, I do know and know of numerous people who have. And the scammers GENERALLY prey on NEW PLAYERS because the older players have learned to detect it.
"A ship-of-war is the best ambassador." - Oliver Cromwell
Heh i thought this had to do somthing with CAOD - only difference is that CAOD posters represent what? less than 10% of EvE comunity? Also if im not mistaking COAD is pretty much an extension of the wars carried between corps/alliances. As for scamming, well you cant say CCP does very little imo. Ive started playing in 2005 and since than market and market tools at the dispossal of the player have improved quite alot. And no im not delusional, im just hoping you are not clouded by the experiences you had in this war between Bob and redswarm
I guess is as someone said it already that you cant judge the comunity only from your point of view and pass it on as the truth. You`d give comunity a 5, id give it a 6 or 7 from my experience.
Nice review I liked it, you pretty much hit the nail on the head.
Also "if you arent my friend you are my income" that made me chuckle and its sooooo true. Oh yeah and regarding our (EVE) forums if you follow the following rules you will find your experience with us EVE players is much more pleasant.
1. DONT EVER post or read CAOD (Corporation, Alliance and Organization Discussions) this is mostly used to trash talk your enemies or for Propaganda.
2. Don't whine on our forums, most of the time they get answered woth "can I have your stuff" and get very heavily flamed :P, well written and toaught out posts hardly ever get trolled or derailed (exept on caod of course :P)
yeah Lag sucks in big fleet battles but tbh show me a game that can handle 400 vs 400 (not to mention the additional npcs (omgwtf where is my ship fighter swarms) usually numbering easily 100 NPC fighters which are controlled by Capital class Carriers or motherships.
Otherwise a nice unbiased review, btw if you wish to ecplore more of the game I am part of a 0.0 alliance I can show you how it is to build your own home and defend it (or burn down someone else home)
however I would argue that because the community is so heartless it actully deserves a higher rating.
most evil mean pirates thank you for the fight once your done.
Also ans of eve on the forums make wallpapers and one player games based off eve. the home worl mod and 3D models, remixes and lots of other projects. I guess if you only go by in game it should take a 7, however with the community as a whole, going out to a bar with eve players fanfest and so forth. I mean how many games have such a community feel as fanfest does? you get to just go and drink beer with the devs. it's great!
So While I agree with your review maybe if you looked outside of the in-game parts of the community you would give eve an 8 out of 10 instead.
Also I live how your review should hopefully show the devs that they REALLY need a better sound engine so you turn down the stupid warp sound or missles. I think the reason they can't be is 5 years ago they wanted to make sound "move" orsomething and so like if the missles are fra away camera wise they will sound less loud?
but the whole thing is flawed.
Also to the people that said eve shouldn't get a 10 for graphics, it's not a one player game, eve has advanced mmorpg graphics to great hieghts. you can't based it on other gmes that aren't mmorpgs.
Well I hope you look into the community some more and I hope that CCP fixes the sound and the server lag. once that happens I hope you'll review the game again actully I hope you'll review ambulation when it comes out any chance of that?
So here's a question to all the repliers to this post:
Would you recommend beginning to play this game today? Or is it going to be completely frustrating, painful, and annoying. Would I only consider starting to play if I plan on investing years of time into it?
A good point was brought out that reviews are generally for people who have not yet played the game, but are interested in it. This is me.
Cinori Aluben - CSM6 2011 Fix The Little Things First! www.littlethingsfirst.com EVE-Online
I'd recommend starting to day as long as you understand EVE is a PvP game, meaning it does come with frustrations. Secondly, yes, you'll need to play for awhile to really start enjoying it.
I definitely feel i would enjoy it. I love complicated/intricate gameplay, was a HUGE fan of Original SWG (sandbox ftw), am a structural engineer by trade, and love MMOs. I just don't want to be wasting my time either (got a life - thus the SN).
Cinori Aluben - CSM6 2011 Fix The Little Things First! www.littlethingsfirst.com EVE-Online
Given that the developers were found and proven to be cheating at their own game and playing favorites (giving their friends rare items and leaking information and rigging events) then trying to lie cover it up only to be exposed, I would say stay clear of this. Why waste your money on a rigged field? CCP is probably one of the most corrupt MMO companies out there and acts in a thoroughly dishonest and unprofessional manner.
Given that the developers were found and proven to be cheating at their own game and playing favorites (giving their friends rare items and leaking information and rigging events) then trying to lie cover it up only to be exposed, I would say stay clear of this. Why waste your money on a rigged field? CCP is probably one of the most corrupt MMO companies out there and acts in a thoroughly dishonest and unprofessional manner.
woa woa woa... this was not mentioned in the review. Elaborate?
Cinori Aluben - CSM6 2011 Fix The Little Things First! www.littlethingsfirst.com EVE-Online
A corporation (guild), BoB, received unique items from an unscrupulous developer (rigged a lottery) who had a character in that corporation.
Anyways, Eve Online is still the best MMO ever (by far). And I think CCP has been and will be more careful about such things since this regrettable event, because if it were to happen again it would kill their image this time.
I'll try to explain : A corporation (guild), BoB, received unique items from an unscrupulous developer (rigged a lottery) who had a character in that corporation.
That corporation is on the verge of extinction though. Many Eve corporations are at war with them. Anyways, Eve Online is still the best MMO ever (by far). And I think CCP has been and will be more careful about such things since this regrettable event, because if it were to happen again it would kill their image this time.
This is so full of misinformation its unreal. Calling utter BS.
What really happened was that 2 years ago a developer used his dev powers to make his SECRET player account somewhat more wealthy. Noone knew about this but him (but its not allowed). He then joined a corporation in an alliance called Band of Brothers. Without telling BoB anything about where his wealth came from, he donated some of it to his corp. The amounts were large but not massive, probably less than 5% of the corporations total wealth.
Skip forwards 2 years and another player HACKS Band of Brothers forums, HACKS some CCP emails, and is able to prove that all this happened. His hacking also shows that the dev in question had all his player characters banned shortly afterwards.
CCP admitted it had happened, said that disciplinary action had been taken (back then, 2 yrs ago) and put in place new checking systems.
The issue has mainly been that BoB were and are the most skilled and impressive PvP alliance, and therefore have many many enemies. Even though the amounts were pretty miniscule compared to their total wealth, people used this as an excuse for why BoB were so good and they were losing to them.
Basically, epic space e-drama, but nothing the average player should worry about. Any claim that the devs are untrustworthy or that this is likely to happen again are simply by players who suck and want to bring down those who dont.
Excellent review. Very fresh and inciteful. Hopefully it will attract some "more meat for the grinder" as one of the developer's put it.
I agree about the griefing and scamming myself. The community used to be better but has gone down a little in recent years. Still, there are plenty of people around to help and it's a lot better than most of the other MMOs I've tried. More kids are playing nowadays I suppose.
By the way have you heard CCP (the developer) are working on implementing a supercomputer solution for the server cluster? This should eliminate all server lag. An MMO with a supercomputer for a server. Nice eh?
First of all avatar uploading in the member profile of mmorpg.com is broken. Update: just discovered the spellcheck here is also broken.
Secondly: how on Earth does Eve consistently get such good scores? Does no one notice that the tutorial missions are broken? Does no one notice the endless spelling mistakes? Or the awful character art? Or the terrible dialog of NPCs? Or the boring NPC missions? Or the awful auto-pilot? Or the lack of help? Etc, etc, etc, freaking etc...
This game never gets any better. 10 year old + games like Escape Velocity continue to outclass it when it comes to the basics of Elite style gameplay. WTF is going on with these reviewers?
How can the very basics like ACTUALLY having FUN and WORKING tutorial missions without spelling mistakes be ignored? CCP have had YEARS to perfect this game and it still has no help under help???
I'm sorry, but I just don't get it.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
You said: Does no one notice that the tutorial missions are broken? Does no one notice the endless spelling mistakes? Or the awful character art? Or the terrible dialog of NPCs? Or the boring NPC missions? Or the awful auto-pilot? Or the lack of help? Etc, etc,
a) Although everyone sees them, tutorial missions are done once per player. The current missions, from what I hear, are adequate to introduce game mechanics.
b) Spelling mistakes do not break gameplay.
c) In Eve, we don't run around the game watching our female Night Elf's ass or boobs. Most of us never worry about other people's character portraits or even our own. We're playing the game, not staring at pixelated asses.
d) NPCs are just bags of isk/loot/salvage so you can make money and/or manufacture stuff. Who cares what they "say".
e) NPC missions are boring, yes... they are a means to an end... getting ISK for PVP or manufacturing.
f) Auto-pilot is very purposefully aweful... so you'll pay attention to the game and not afk fly all over... you have to watch yourself all the time in Eve and having a bad auto-pilot (it will get you there as long as you aren't blown up by another player in the process, albeit slowly) serves the purpose of getting somewhere. It's up to you to do it safely and quickly.
g) Help is given by other players most often... that's why joining a player-run corporation is encouraged. The sheer complexity of Eve (it's a learning cliff instead of a curve) means that help would have to be complex anyway. Plus, there are huge amounts of help on the 'net if you know where to look (hint: use Google to search for it). What other MMOs are there that you have to worry about traversal velocities, explosion radius, and explosion velocity of your weapons and signature radius and speed of your targets? You don't have to have a good understanding of math for Eve but it sure helps (you can get explanations like: put transverse velocity on your overview and if you see your target has higher than X value, you won't hit them but knowing what transversals are and how to minimize them makes you much better at PVP).
Eve is NOT for players who like their hands being held to play. There's another saying (the article has a good one, too): Space is cold, but Eve is colder. You should look up some stories about the Guiding Hand Social Club, who spent a year or so infiltrating another corporation to its highest levels, assassinated (not permenant) their leader, blew up an extremely rare ship, and stole that corporation's assets... for hire. If you think the death penalties in WoW are harsh, you need not ever download Eve... if you buy a ship (say it takes you 3 weeks to get the money to buy it), expect it to be blown up... hopefully insurance will cover it, though, if tech1. If tech2... well... insurance payout for those isn't worth getting insurance usually. In Eve, you can lose everything you've worked for for the past year in 30 seconds if you aren't careful. A comparison with WoW.. suppose your fully epic equipped toon gets killed in PVP... the person who killed you in Eve would get to loot all your epic items (that survived the fight) for himself.... every time you die in PVP, your killers can loot your wreck (corpse). It's kind of like in WoW if you spent 100,000+ gold to buy this really neat rare mount and the first time you use it to travel across The Barrens, a bunch of enemies jump out of the bushes, PVP kill you, and take your mount from you.
There are other sayings: Don't undock in anything you cannot afford to lose. And another: any time you buy a ship, assume it will be destroyed the instant you undock... that way, you don't become too attached to it.
Alright review, but having played a couple of months of Eve some time ago I missed some more elaboration on the actual gameplay.
Most games are divided in PvE and PvP gameplay, but Eve also has the economics branch where you can build or speculate on the market from day#1 and improve on that until you're filthy rich and influential, without actually having fought NPCs or players. ..I know you mentioned it, but seeing as Eve offers this more unique approach than other games, it could warrant more emphasis.
And while I applaud the reviewing effort, just as it's nice PlanetSide got a re-review, I question the merit of trial/1st-month based reviews. Anyone could download a trial and see what a game is like for 14 days, and you're essentially telling people what they'll figure out in that time. It's handy for us to know in advance, but after those 14 days the game could drastically change for all we know.It's learning how the game is on the longterm that in my opinion is the greatest benifit we get from reviews, which is why it would be very nice if you could somehow persuade a few veterans to write about their games as well.
The thing about Eve that gives me a tingly feeling in my stomach is the player-driven story. There's always a war somewhere, a conflict over territory and pirates stalking or camping in the depth of space claiming the turf as their own. These have fundemental impacts on the economy and resource availability, which in turn affects how well the warring sides can keep up with their losses and needs in order to push their goals. It forces traders to hire help, do risk assessment of their routes; will they buy cheap in the newbie areas and dare venture into outlaw areas to sell high? Getting hold of rare blueprints or being the first alliance to develop some huge ship to tip the scales in their favour. Things like that. I'm sure a one-year vet could write a huge essay on the topic.
Come to think of it, maybe you could do a Part 3 of the review, which could consist of player interviews. If you made a list of questions and had them answered by represents of everyone from pirates, ore-stealers, bountyhunters, mercenaries, alliance leaders (trades/war), station owners, dedicated miners (if any), traders&haulers, market players and other sort of community big shot that might be around (Imnominate Nightmare maybe? :P The newbie that bought a shuttle and set off into 0.0 space to visit everyone and everywhere in the name of neutrality). It'd be extremely interesting seeing where their answers were the same, at what parts they disagree and what motivates them.
Comments
Great review!
Why would you rate comunity at 5? Its much better and more mature than in most mmo's ive played ..
Eve would get a 5 from me as well but so would just about any online game. One can claim that Eve has a better community than other games but that all depends on what you have experienced and not what it is in reality for everyone.
On the OP -- good review imo. Thanks to MMORPG for doing these types of things. And to the nay-sayers -- sign up to be a MMORPG.com reviewer and then come back and make your comments imo.
Nice write up, even if it is coming from a newer player. I think it gives a pretty decent overview of the game, and hits all the points it needs to.
Remember, reviews are still opinions.... some of you should go chill out and learn to respect others views.
Respoding to the writers comment on my first post:
Yes I did read both parts of your review and my comment was in no way a critiscism of you but a complement to the depth of the game. I agree with some of the earlier sentiment that games such as Eve can only be reviewed in summary fashion unless you have been a long term player and hav had the opportunity to try all aspects.
You clearly, and honestly, did not try to portray yourself as such and therefore I stand by my complementary comments of both the game and your review.
To err is human....to play is divine
Thank you! I just wanted to make sure you hadn't missed the first half
Laura "Taera" Genender
Community Manager
MMORPG.com
I read both portions, and as a relatively new player I could easily relate. I've been playing for 7 months or so and I took a slightly different path so I got to see a few things you didn't (spent a few months in 0.0)
But overall, I've not had time to touch the crafting side, or the exploration, or the mining, or about a dozen other things. Which is why I love the game, so much to learn, so much to do.
The review was well done, you only spoke about what you experienced and pointed out those areas that you couldn't offer a detailed opinion on.
Sure, someday someone with 5 years experience can write an in-depth review if they like. But I'm thinking it might be better to publish that in a paperback novel.
Who the hell are you, and why should I care?
Congrats! You are a victim of Trollstar!
i can only agree on a point or two, as with any game that is a "lord of the flies" game it will always remain small, a niche game at best. while eve has very nice graphics it doesnt make up for a game that is "on the rails flight and combat resolution" , both of which are simplistic and a big negative in my book. the economy is what you make of it, sure there is scamming but it's easy to avoid.
you said it best, "if you arent my friend, you are my income" (i love that)
adding consequence to this game would make it much better and draw more people.
folks disagree or agree on this point but most will say a corp is mandatory, allies etc. the solo player running around in low sec, or null need not apply. not saying they cant, i had fun smack talking gatecamps and causing all sorts of trouble in various regions (whilst not getting caught) but for a player wanting to make a difference by any means (scamming not included) its impossible.
if eve had newtonian physics (more realistic space flight and combat resolution) it would encourage others to venture out confront those "brave corps" and probably beat the hell out of them. as it is it looks like jumpgate will be what draws folks wanting more than a lord of the flies experiance on a rail.
and for the record i still think eve, for now, is the best space sim going.
can you smell that?!!...............there is nothing quite like it.....................the smell of troll in the morning............i love that smell.
Actually, this is *exactly* the kind of review that I think most people considering playing this game will want to read. I don't care if a game gets really deep and rich only after you've played it for years; I want to know how it plays at the beginning because, frankly, it's the experience of those first few months that's going to make or break a game for me. Finding out how "good" it might get after playing for a year or more is not a selling point because I don't give a rip. If I'm still playing the game after three months, I'll see that for myself, but if the initial few months stinks, then goodbye, game.
Laura's thorough and well-written reviews unfailingly focus on the newer player's experience and for that, I must say, I am quite grateful. It's not that I don't care about endgame content; it's that if I don't like how a game begins, the endgame features are completely irrelevant because I'll have quit long before then.
I love you taerat.
*smooch*
Why would you rate comunity at 5? Its much better and more mature than in most mmo's ive played ..
Mmmmm lets see... why would I rate it a 5?
1) General attitude in every aspect of EVE life that "if you are not blue you are prey"
2) I have played just about every MMORPG on the market. Only in EVE have I EVER had a TS server hacked (not once, but multiple times, to multiple alliances). Only in EVE do players feel its "ok" to hack into other people's forums, webservers, teamspeak servers,etc... all in the name of winning at internet spaceships. This is NOT a mature community. Yes, there are many mature PEOPLE in the community and yes there are many OLDER players in EVE and more PROFESSIONAL players in EVE. But the community, as a whole, is pretty pathetic to be quite honest. In EVE it's commonplace for players to scam their corporation(guild)mates out of billions of isk in value (read: Months of in-game effort) just for jollies.
In EVE it's very common for players to try to trick new players into aggressing themselves so that the older player can get his jollies by blowing the newbie up.
And if you'd like a GLOWING example of the level of immaturity in EVE? Just take a stroll through the official forums, most notably the "Corporations and Organizations Discussions" Forum AKA: CAOD
If, after all that, you still think EVE has one of the 'most mature communities' out there. Then you're delusional. Don't get me wrong. I like EVE. Hell I've played it since 2005 and was in the Beta as well. But 'mature community' is NOT one of it's strengths. Yes, there are mature members of the community, and you can avoid the deadheads somewhat. But the overall community consists of cheaters, scammers, hackers, exploiters and all the other common drivvel you'll find in every other game. However, unlike in every other game, CCP does VERY little to curb antisocial behavior within the game (one of it's strenghts, yes, but it certainly doesn't raise the maturity level in the game).
And no, I've never, not even once, fallen for a scam. However, I do know and know of numerous people who have. And the scammers GENERALLY prey on NEW PLAYERS because the older players have learned to detect it.
"A ship-of-war is the best ambassador." - Oliver Cromwell
Heh i thought this had to do somthing with CAOD - only difference is that CAOD posters represent what? less than 10% of EvE comunity? Also if im not mistaking COAD is pretty much an extension of the wars carried between corps/alliances. As for scamming, well you cant say CCP does very little imo. Ive started playing in 2005 and since than market and market tools at the dispossal of the player have improved quite alot. And no im not delusional, im just hoping you are not clouded by the experiences you had in this war between Bob and redswarm
I guess is as someone said it already that you cant judge the comunity only from your point of view and pass it on as the truth. You`d give comunity a 5, id give it a 6 or 7 from my experience.
Nice review I liked it, you pretty much hit the nail on the head.
Also "if you arent my friend you are my income"
that made me chuckle and its sooooo true. Oh yeah and regarding our (EVE) forums if you follow the following rules you will find your experience with us EVE players is much more pleasant.
1. DONT EVER post or read CAOD (Corporation, Alliance and Organization Discussions) this is mostly used to trash talk your enemies or for Propaganda.
2. Don't whine on our forums, most of the time they get answered woth "can I have your stuff" and get very heavily flamed :P, well written and toaught out posts hardly ever get trolled or derailed (exept on caod of course :P)
yeah Lag sucks in big fleet battles but tbh show me a game that can handle 400 vs 400 (not to mention the additional npcs (omgwtf where is my ship fighter swarms) usually numbering easily 100 NPC fighters which are controlled by Capital class Carriers or motherships.
Otherwise a nice unbiased review, btw if you wish to ecplore more of the game I am part of a 0.0 alliance I can show you how it is to build your own home and defend it (or burn down someone else home
)
I really enjoyed your review
however I would argue that because the community is so heartless it actully deserves a higher rating.
most evil mean pirates thank you for the fight once your done.
Also ans of eve on the forums make wallpapers and one player games based off eve. the home worl mod and 3D models, remixes and lots of other projects. I guess if you only go by in game it should take a 7, however with the community as a whole, going out to a bar with eve players fanfest and so forth. I mean how many games have such a community feel as fanfest does? you get to just go and drink beer with the devs. it's great!
So While I agree with your review maybe if you looked outside of the in-game parts of the community you would give eve an 8 out of 10 instead.
Also I live how your review should hopefully show the devs that they REALLY need a better sound engine so you turn down the stupid warp sound or missles. I think the reason they can't be is 5 years ago they wanted to make sound "move" orsomething and so like if the missles are fra away camera wise they will sound less loud?
but the whole thing is flawed.
Also to the people that said eve shouldn't get a 10 for graphics, it's not a one player game, eve has advanced mmorpg graphics to great hieghts. you can't based it on other gmes that aren't mmorpgs.
Well I hope you look into the community some more and I hope that CCP fixes the sound and the server lag. once that happens I hope you'll review the game again
actully I hope you'll review ambulation when it comes out any chance of that?
So here's a question to all the repliers to this post:
Would you recommend beginning to play this game today? Or is it going to be completely frustrating, painful, and annoying. Would I only consider starting to play if I plan on investing years of time into it?
A good point was brought out that reviews are generally for people who have not yet played the game, but are interested in it. This is me.
Cinori Aluben - CSM6 2011
Fix The Little Things First!
www.littlethingsfirst.com
EVE-Online
I'd recommend starting to day as long as you understand EVE is a PvP game, meaning it does come with frustrations. Secondly, yes, you'll need to play for awhile to really start enjoying it.
I definitely feel i would enjoy it. I love complicated/intricate gameplay, was a HUGE fan of Original SWG (sandbox ftw), am a structural engineer by trade, and love MMOs. I just don't want to be wasting my time either (got a life - thus the SN).
Cinori Aluben - CSM6 2011
Fix The Little Things First!
www.littlethingsfirst.com
EVE-Online
Given that the developers were found and proven to be cheating at their own game and playing favorites (giving their friends rare items and leaking information and rigging events) then trying to lie cover it up only to be exposed, I would say stay clear of this. Why waste your money on a rigged field? CCP is probably one of the most corrupt MMO companies out there and acts in a thoroughly dishonest and unprofessional manner.
woa woa woa... this was not mentioned in the review. Elaborate?
Cinori Aluben - CSM6 2011
Fix The Little Things First!
www.littlethingsfirst.com
EVE-Online
I'll try to explain :
A corporation (guild), BoB, received unique items from an unscrupulous developer (rigged a lottery) who had a character in that corporation.
Anyways, Eve Online is still the best MMO ever (by far). And I think CCP has been and will be more careful about such things since this regrettable event, because if it were to happen again it would kill their image this time.
---
Waiting for: GW2
*thumbs up*: GW, Eve(, WoW)
*thumbs down*: MO, GA, FE
This is so full of misinformation its unreal. Calling utter BS.
What really happened was that 2 years ago a developer used his dev powers to make his SECRET player account somewhat more wealthy. Noone knew about this but him (but its not allowed). He then joined a corporation in an alliance called Band of Brothers. Without telling BoB anything about where his wealth came from, he donated some of it to his corp. The amounts were large but not massive, probably less than 5% of the corporations total wealth.
Skip forwards 2 years and another player HACKS Band of Brothers forums, HACKS some CCP emails, and is able to prove that all this happened. His hacking also shows that the dev in question had all his player characters banned shortly afterwards.
CCP admitted it had happened, said that disciplinary action had been taken (back then, 2 yrs ago) and put in place new checking systems.
The issue has mainly been that BoB were and are the most skilled and impressive PvP alliance, and therefore have many many enemies. Even though the amounts were pretty miniscule compared to their total wealth, people used this as an excuse for why BoB were so good and they were losing to them.
Basically, epic space e-drama, but nothing the average player should worry about. Any claim that the devs are untrustworthy or that this is likely to happen again are simply by players who suck and want to bring down those who dont.
Excellent review. Very fresh and inciteful. Hopefully it will attract some "more meat for the grinder" as one of the developer's put it.
I agree about the griefing and scamming myself. The community used to be better but has gone down a little in recent years. Still, there are plenty of people around to help and it's a lot better than most of the other MMOs I've tried. More kids are playing nowadays I suppose.
By the way have you heard CCP (the developer) are working on implementing a supercomputer solution for the server cluster? This should eliminate all server lag. An MMO with a supercomputer for a server. Nice eh?
First of all avatar uploading in the member profile of mmorpg.com is broken. Update: just discovered the spellcheck here is also broken.
Secondly: how on Earth does Eve consistently get such good scores? Does no one notice that the tutorial missions are broken? Does no one notice the endless spelling mistakes? Or the awful character art? Or the terrible dialog of NPCs? Or the boring NPC missions? Or the awful auto-pilot? Or the lack of help? Etc, etc, etc, freaking etc...
This game never gets any better. 10 year old + games like Escape Velocity continue to outclass it when it comes to the basics of Elite style gameplay. WTF is going on with these reviewers?
How can the very basics like ACTUALLY having FUN and WORKING tutorial missions without spelling mistakes be ignored? CCP have had YEARS to perfect this game and it still has no help under help???
I'm sorry, but I just don't get it.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
You said: Does no one notice that the tutorial missions are broken? Does no one notice the endless spelling mistakes? Or the awful character art? Or the terrible dialog of NPCs? Or the boring NPC missions? Or the awful auto-pilot? Or the lack of help? Etc, etc,
a) Although everyone sees them, tutorial missions are done once per player. The current missions, from what I hear, are adequate to introduce game mechanics.
b) Spelling mistakes do not break gameplay.
c) In Eve, we don't run around the game watching our female Night Elf's ass or boobs. Most of us never worry about other people's character portraits or even our own. We're playing the game, not staring at pixelated asses.
d) NPCs are just bags of isk/loot/salvage so you can make money and/or manufacture stuff. Who cares what they "say".
e) NPC missions are boring, yes... they are a means to an end... getting ISK for PVP or manufacturing.
f) Auto-pilot is very purposefully aweful... so you'll pay attention to the game and not afk fly all over... you have to watch yourself all the time in Eve and having a bad auto-pilot (it will get you there as long as you aren't blown up by another player in the process, albeit slowly) serves the purpose of getting somewhere. It's up to you to do it safely and quickly.
g) Help is given by other players most often... that's why joining a player-run corporation is encouraged. The sheer complexity of Eve (it's a learning cliff instead of a curve) means that help would have to be complex anyway. Plus, there are huge amounts of help on the 'net if you know where to look (hint: use Google to search for it). What other MMOs are there that you have to worry about traversal velocities, explosion radius, and explosion velocity of your weapons and signature radius and speed of your targets? You don't have to have a good understanding of math for Eve but it sure helps (you can get explanations like: put transverse velocity on your overview and if you see your target has higher than X value, you won't hit them but knowing what transversals are and how to minimize them makes you much better at PVP).
Eve is NOT for players who like their hands being held to play. There's another saying (the article has a good one, too): Space is cold, but Eve is colder. You should look up some stories about the Guiding Hand Social Club, who spent a year or so infiltrating another corporation to its highest levels, assassinated (not permenant) their leader, blew up an extremely rare ship, and stole that corporation's assets... for hire. If you think the death penalties in WoW are harsh, you need not ever download Eve... if you buy a ship (say it takes you 3 weeks to get the money to buy it), expect it to be blown up... hopefully insurance will cover it, though, if tech1. If tech2... well... insurance payout for those isn't worth getting insurance usually. In Eve, you can lose everything you've worked for for the past year in 30 seconds if you aren't careful. A comparison with WoW.. suppose your fully epic equipped toon gets killed in PVP... the person who killed you in Eve would get to loot all your epic items (that survived the fight) for himself.... every time you die in PVP, your killers can loot your wreck (corpse). It's kind of like in WoW if you spent 100,000+ gold to buy this really neat rare mount and the first time you use it to travel across The Barrens, a bunch of enemies jump out of the bushes, PVP kill you, and take your mount from you.
There are other sayings: Don't undock in anything you cannot afford to lose. And another: any time you buy a ship, assume it will be destroyed the instant you undock... that way, you don't become too attached to it.
Alright review, but having played a couple of months of Eve some time ago I missed some more elaboration on the actual gameplay.
Most games are divided in PvE and PvP gameplay, but Eve also has the economics branch where you can build or speculate on the market from day#1 and improve on that until you're filthy rich and influential, without actually having fought NPCs or players. ..I know you mentioned it, but seeing as Eve offers this more unique approach than other games, it could warrant more emphasis.
And while I applaud the reviewing effort, just as it's nice PlanetSide got a re-review, I question the merit of trial/1st-month based reviews. Anyone could download a trial and see what a game is like for 14 days, and you're essentially telling people what they'll figure out in that time. It's handy for us to know in advance, but after those 14 days the game could drastically change for all we know.It's learning how the game is on the longterm that in my opinion is the greatest benifit we get from reviews, which is why it would be very nice if you could somehow persuade a few veterans to write about their games as well.
The thing about Eve that gives me a tingly feeling in my stomach is the player-driven story. There's always a war somewhere, a conflict over territory and pirates stalking or camping in the depth of space claiming the turf as their own. These have fundemental impacts on the economy and resource availability, which in turn affects how well the warring sides can keep up with their losses and needs in order to push their goals. It forces traders to hire help, do risk assessment of their routes; will they buy cheap in the newbie areas and dare venture into outlaw areas to sell high? Getting hold of rare blueprints or being the first alliance to develop some huge ship to tip the scales in their favour. Things like that. I'm sure a one-year vet could write a huge essay on the topic.
Come to think of it, maybe you could do a Part 3 of the review, which could consist of player interviews. If you made a list of questions and had them answered by represents of everyone from pirates, ore-stealers, bountyhunters, mercenaries, alliance leaders (trades/war), station owners, dedicated miners (if any), traders&haulers, market players and other sort of community big shot that might be around (Imnominate Nightmare maybe? :P The newbie that bought a shuttle and set off into 0.0 space to visit everyone and everywhere in the name of neutrality). It'd be extremely interesting seeing where their answers were the same, at what parts they disagree and what motivates them.