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This game... what do I even do?
GPrestige
Member UncommonPosts: 523
(Disclaimer: Do not see this post as a post bashing the game)
I played the trial, and either this game is absolutely terrible, or the trial doesn't do it justice. I found myself spending anywhere from 5-30 minutes just traveling from point A to point B to deliver something. THEN I realized that I left it in my hangar and had to go back. There was very little combat, and the combat I did was just me orbiting some little NPC dot in the sky firing pretty lights at eachother. I am leaning towards the fact that this game is probably just so massive you can barely scratch the surface in the trial
I bought the game on steam because it was extremely cheap, but I'm not going to waste the free 30 days until I am ready to sit down and give it a real try, as I'm sure that it takes a while to get into it.
My question:
Could you please list and detail some of the major features of this game that make it fun? I want to hear it from a player's perspective. WHAT DO I DO? Is it always going to be this boring? Is the most exciting part going to be logging in and seeing what things I was training has completed? Seriously though, I'd like to really know what some things I could look forward to are if I stuck it out for a while. The beginning of the game seems very dull, and it doesn't seem like the steep learning curve is worth it. Could someone please tell me why its worth it, as I am most definitely interested in the game.
Thanks!
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Comments
This line is a major reason I stopped playing. It was the biggest enjoy factor seeing my character progress, but what he was able to do wasn't nearly as fun as it sounded. I wish I would have just hunkered down and gotten into 0.0 PvP before leaving, however.
One of my biggest mistakes probably came from not joining a corp. If you can find one that matches your motives and goals, you should do so (or at least when the game is becoming boring solo). While you could sit in Empire for the entire duration of your play time and do -most- of the missions solo, the real meat of the game comes from grouping up and completing tasks. Said tasks vary depending on your mindset, from industrial (mining/manufacturing) to combat (mission/wormhole running) to territorial control (obviously PvP). These are just a few examples and broad generlizations at that.
EvE doesn't hold your hand and it won't neccesarily show you the paths to take, since those are primarily up to you to decide. Researching aspects about the game and focusing on developing your character on what aspect you think will be most enjoyable and joining a like minded corp will make or break your experience.
I myself am new to the game, though I have not upgraded yet I certainly will be for the following reasons:
Global Server - It's worth a mention, unlike other MMO's I won't ever have to worry about being on the wrong server (You know how in some servers for other games activities happen only on that one server). Another aspect I enjoy in this regard is the fact people from everywhere are forced to play together, and when that happens you get CORP's or "Clans" that are 24/7 active due to the massive amount of time-zone possibilities.
Scale - It's simply a large game constantly growing, 7500 + systems last I recall.
Scope - There are so many options, so many paths to take in EVE... be a miner, manufacturer (Crafter), pirate, engineer, scientist, military focused, leadership focused (fleets)... the list goes on.
Combat - Can be considered both simple and complex, I love the variety of weapons and damage types.
Those are the short versions of why EVE is awesome to me, I know the learning curve is rough... but look at it this way. It keeps the idiots from playing... sometimes. Either way I'm finding the community to be a little older than most MMO's which rocks.
Think of EVE not as a game, but as a sandbox. In this sandbox you can do anything you like... and even though you may suck at it at first over time you will become better and better; it'll go even faster if you focus in one direction. This is not a game to tell you what to do when, you as a player must take control.
Full Sail University - Game Design
Well this is the part where folks are either in love or absolutely hate the game.
The major draw to eve is the social interactions and player driven events that happen due to the openness of the game.
Think of it this way. There are two ways to look at a sandbox in your back yard. One... its just 5 bags of 50lb sand...boring. Another way to look at is, an entire kingdom you can create, build, and enjoy.
Eve is that sandbox.
What is there to do in eve... well lots of things.
You can become a trade / market mogul. One who goes from region to region tracking prices and gaining wealth. Trading your goods and possibly even hauling services while you amass wealth. Once you reach enough captial you can then use your wealth to influence the market to your benefit... and others detriment. I.E. market pvp.
You could become an explorer, someone who seeks out lost relics, resources, and other points of interest. Gaining powerful ships and items as you go, eventually exploring wormhole space and either living there, or roaming worm hole to worm hole killing as you go.
You could become an evil pirate who hides in the depths of lawless space, waiting for victims, and either killing them out right for profit, or ransom them. Over time building friends and enemies, and perhaps turning into a mercenary who for a fee, is willing to use his prowess to enforce others will.
The problem / benefit of all of the above scenarios is they rely on you to create, play, and enjoy. I talked them up and made them sound exciting, but one could also make them dull and boring... it all depends on your outlook.
For instance.
My corp caught our enemy unawares and blew them up. They never saw it coming. I guess it was fun...
or
My corp spent weeks getting a spy into the enemy corporation. We used the intel to setup a covert op that would give us the tactical edge. We setup in a system nearby their mining op, and when we got the go ahead hit them up for about 4 billion in assets, pretty much destroying their industrial wing. Due to this we have been able to force them to pay us our ransom and have pushed them out of our space.
Thats the same event, told two different ways. If you only see the first, you are going to hate eve. If you can see the second, you will love it. Hope that was some help...
Don't feel bad it's not an easy thing to do. You say you haven't seen a learning curve and I agree, but that doesn’t mean it isn't there.
The steps you need to take are pretty strait forward.
Learn to tackle using a frig
Join a corp
Join faction war or red vs blue
(Basically fly w/ others and fight)
Once your comfortable w/ this move on to assault frigs, stealth bombers, and exploration.
Aggression timers, gate guns, NPC aggro, tanking, damage types, ewar, sig radius and falloff. You will need to understand each of them fully.
In six months you should be a very seasoned and aggressive pilot, and ready to make your way in the EVE universe. (not to mention a very valuable commodity)
It’s easy to say and it works, but it's not as easy to do as it sounds. The problem is people want to play the game their way. Anyway that’s how to do it. See if you can. If you can't make yourself go out and engage others, both in combat and in friendship, it ain't gonna happen....bottom line!
BTW this is just the beginning. The game branches off in several directions, but this is the way to start IMO.
From what I got when I played, you log in, set your skills you want trained when offline then log off. After you do that, you come to these forums, or the forums of choice, and talk down to everyone that doesnt play EvE.. Duh.
The above is a joke...sort of...
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
So far I'm trying to mine asteroids, it's sort of fun... I'm also doing the military advisor's missions, though... I have three ships, the default basic starter one, a fighter, and a mining ship.
I think the thing I like most is the way you can target multiple ships and fire multiple weapons at once.
I think the thing I dislike most is the movement - less maneuverability than point and click games! But it works, I suppose, for a space game... I just would have prefered something a bit more like Rogue Squadron or something, or a hotkey that switches between the two...
I am playing EVE and it's alright... level V skills are a bit much.
You all need to learn to spell.
I tried EVE a couple years ago, but just couldn't get into it. Then, last month I re-subbed to give it another try. I'm in between MMOs right now, and just kinda looking around. I thought I would give EVE another chance.
My experience both times were exactly the same. EVE is a fantastic game. Lots of wow factors, lots of things to do and look at, a wonderful and supportive community (although you can trust few), and a vast, complex, and varied game. However, it just doesn't grab me. It's a sandbox game, which is neither a positive or a negative to me; some are good and some are bad. It's very group oriented. You really need to join a CORP as soon as possible. I'm more of a solo player, and prefer PvE over PvP, which really just isn't EVE. There are lots of things you can do solo in EVE... but it just really isn't for me.
The funny thing is, when I played other MMOs, I often enjoyed going off by myself and doing things on my own. And EVE allows you do to that so very much... yet at the same time, the lack of any real NPCs (save for a few quest givers here and there) just made the game feel very lonely and empty. Interaction with the game *itself* is extremely limited relative to other MMOs.
Again, I am not bashing EVE. In fact, I am saddened I just don't get it. It looks great. Starts out fun. The possibilities seem endless and fascinating and make me want to search those out... but both times, it seems I just ended up in 30+ min flights flying from starbase to starbase to complete missions that were un-fullfilling to me.
Space is cold and dead, and that's just the way I end up feeling after playing it for a few days. For those that love EVE, I can certainly see why, and wish I was one of them. It's a great game. But it's just something I can't dig my teeth into.
EDIT: The support in EVE has always been very good as well, in my experiences. When I re-subbed, I really had no idea where to start to get my account going. I was contacted the next day regarding the email I sent to support, and they gave me all my account info and all the options I had to get back into EVE, including a free trial. They always seemed to go above and beyond. So I spent $14 for one month to give it a try. They deserve my money - they have earned it... lol.
The problem is, though, that there are limits on what you can do within the game, certainly in terms of gameplay, and, as the trialist has found out, space can be a lonely old place. If you have any real-life buddies already playing the game that can open it up a bit- in fact a lot- for you, otherwise you might find yourself in for a very long-haul to get anywhere in the EvE. So the best thing to do with the trial is to try to have fun, and if at the end of that you cannot see anything within EvE for you...quit. I have to admit I found the game a little offputting, especially the point-and-click space combat. That written, just after Dominion is a good time for a new guy to come in.
'What will I do?'
You can spend months and years asking this question everytime you log in, so many choices you have, so much you can do in EVE.
i'm sure most have seen this video already but i'd figure i'd link it anyways
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08hmqyejCYU&feature=PlayList&p=F614A7A6461E61E1&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1
as most have said above, it's a sandbox. you figure out what YOU want to do and i think thats really the only answer to your question. "what are some of the saving graces of this game?" play how you want
i tried EVE for a grand total of 3 hours (i know, i suck) and almost fell asleep at my keyboard. clicking on something and watching my character go off and start beating/shooting on/at it isn't that appealing to me. i like to be in full control of my character and thats why i'm currently playing Darkfall. it has it's faults no doubt but to me it's a lot more fun ( i am keeping my eye on Earthrise though)
You can spend your money on an eve sub and do nothing more than this if you want to.
Why would you want to?
Give me liberty or give me lasers
OP, The expansion just released yesterday. With it comes two new tutorial mission arcs fro Exploration and advance combat.
All together you have 5 tutorial arcs to run (50 missions) then you have the Level 1 combat epic arc (50+ missions).
After that you fly to a mission agent who randomly gives you missions from a pool of 100-200 missions.
Doing these missions builds standing. With this standing you can either go for level 4 missions that require much more preparation and skill or enlist with one of the four Races for some faction warfare.
If you don't want to go that way you can take the skills and ship that the exploration tutorial gave you and get into exploration. Scanning down wormholes, mining, combat, hacking, archeology and salvage sites this path even leads you to become a scout in pvp and scan down fellow pilots useful in low and 0.0 sec and for ninja salvaging.
Or you could just jump into recruitment channel and join a pvp corp that trains new players (there are many).
Like mining? Great start off in a mining frig and work your way up to a hulk, join a indy corp and run Ops with them.
Like trading? build up a bit of isk and start studying the market, buy a hauler and become rich or atleast try.
What about crafting? wanna build ships? maybe get into T3 production? invention?
Seriously OP the trial doesn't do Eve justice but now with the new tutorials at least you get to touch on a few thing that you couldnt before.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
This seems to be a pretty balanced viewpoint, and I agree with it. The gameplay is centred around Corporation / PVP gameplay and for those who don't partake in that sort of thing, the game can seem a little under-developed for other playstyles. That's not a critisism as such, just a fact. However, what it does do, it does well. It just doesn't cater for everyones playstyle that's all. Which is a boon, but can also be an issue for some people. Especially those who enjoy a PVE combat playstyle because the agent missions can get kind of boring. Don't get me wrong, the Agent missions are better than nothing, but I personally think more can be done with them.
The following is just my opinion nothing more:
I'll admit that I haven't' played Eve lately, so these things may already be in place. However, to me there is one element missing from EvE that perhaps would address many critisisms about it concerning gameplay that appeals to certain audiences. To me, what's missing is a central protagonist corporation / race / whatever (or even a number of them) within involving story arcs / long mission chains that allow pve'ers could go up against enemies which they have been introduced to in the game. Actual player progression in such mission arcs could be tied into what's currently in the game (i.e. progression is reliant on the real time training system) without imposing any changes to it. Item progression / rewards would still be no different than now, i.e. largely dependant on the player economy and crafting just as it is now. Yes, the Agent mission system was a well needed implementation, but they currently feel a little under-utilised and thus a little bland.
In short, the Agent missions could be gathered together into more compelling mission arcs involving recognisable factions / races / whatever, in order to create a more compelling gameplay for PVE'ers. To me that's what Eve needs to better cater for the PVE gameplay, not "hand holding" per say, just a little direction in a story.
Disclaimer:
Don't get me wrong, I'm not screaming for Eve to change. After all, its good at what it does. It caters well for those who like a sandbox pvp style space game. Bravo I say. However, one cannot help but wonder whether the addition of some of the more traditional PVE factors could be introduced into the game without affecting its current CORE gameplay, which would help increase Eve's popularity in certain areas where it's lacking.
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This seems to be a pretty balanced viewpoint, and I agree with it. The gameplay is centred around Corporation / PVP gameplay and for those who don't partake in that sort of thing, the game can seem a little under-developed for other playstyles. That's not a critisism as such, just a fact. However, what it does do, it does well. It just doesn't cater for everyones playstyle that's all. Which is a boon, but can also be an issue for some people. Especially those who enjoy a PVE combat playstyle because the agent missions can get kind of boring. Don't get me wrong, the Agent missions are better than nothing, but I personally think more can be done with them.
The following is just my opinion nothing more:
I'll admit that I haven't' played Eve lately, so these things may already be in place. However, to me there is one element missing from EvE that perhaps would address many critisisms about it concerning gameplay that appeals to certain audiences. To me, what's missing is a central protagonist corporation / race / whatever (or even a number of them) within an involving story arc (numerous quest chains) that pve'ers could go up against. Player progression in such story arcs could be tied into what's currently in the game (i.e. real time training) without imposing any changes to it. Item progression / rewards would still be no different than now, i.e. largely dependant on the player economy and crafting just as it is now. The Agent missions could be gathered together to make a more compelling story arc for those who would like that kind of thing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not screaming for Eve to change. After all, its good at what it does. It caters well for those who like a sandbox pvp style space game. Bravo I say. However, one cannot help but wonder whether the addition of some of the more traditional PVE factors could be introduced into the game without affecting its current CORE gameplay, which would help increase Eve's popularity in certain areas where it's lacking.
The only feature Eve lacks pve wise is progression raids.
You have epic arcs, Random agent missions, Fleet content (L5, WHs above class 2), You have exploration where escalations and all types of sites can be found. You have FW missions that have risk to it.
You have a pve progression actually by ship type Frig>Cruiser>BC>BS> Faction BS/Marauder with other options as well.
You even have rare OP loot like officer mods.
It's pretty good and seems to have gotten better with the new speedboat missions.
Your right Eve is a pvp game but the pve is atleast decent if it wasn't why would up to 80% of the eve population enjoy them so much?
Really other than raid progression I dont see how its lacking compared to a games like WAR, lotro or Aion.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Eve has the ingredients to appeal to PVP'ers who perhaps occasionally PVE. In other words, PVE is intentionally intended to be secondary to PVP. I'm not knocking it for those who like that formula. I fully appreciate how it can be viewed as a great "sideline" when a player doesn't want to PVP all day.
However to me, for those who want PVE gameplay to be their primary activity whilst playing Eve, it's perhaps lacking a little something, which pulls it all together to create a greater and more solid PVE gamplay activity which can be enjoyed for long periods. Something which gives all these ingredients a purpose and meaning.
The random missions are good when you only want to do a few at a time. However, just like SWG-Pre NGE, they get a little "same-y" after a while. Sure one could argue that that is the intention, to encourage people to only use them when there's nothing else to do. However, if one wishes to address what PVE'ers want from Eve, perhaps a little more imagination is needed.
Ship progression is good, but that's not the entirety of what I feel people want from PVE progression. The ships are progression tools used to complete a goal. To me, it's that long term goal that is missing. That long term goal could be a long running story arc with enemy npc corps / races / whatever which gives meaning and purpose to what the PVE preferred player is trying to accomplish. I'll admit that I haven't tried the exploration side of Eve (I cancelled my sub before it came out). However, the name itself doesn't really inspire me to think that it introduces a much needed protagonist and story which involves the whole gameworld.
And with such a story propelling the player onward, encouraging them to progress, you could also then "set the stage" for Eve style PVE raiding.
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Eve has the ingredients to appeal to PVP'ers who perhaps occasionally PVE. In other words, PVE is intentionally intended to be secondary to PVP. I'm not knocking it for those who like that formula. I fully appreciate how it can be viewed as a great "sideline" when a player doesn't want to PVP all day.
However to me, for those who want PVE gameplay to be their primary activity whilst playing Eve, it's perhaps lacking a little something, which pulls it all together to create a greater and more solid PVE gamplay activity which can be enjoyed for long periods. Something which gives all these ingredients a purpose and meaning.
The random missions are good when you only want to do a few at a time. However, just like SWG-Pre NGE, they get a little "same-y" after a while. Sure one could argue that that is the intention, to encourage people to only use them when there's nothing else to do. However, if one wishes to address what PVE'ers want from Eve, perhaps a little more imagination is needed.
Ship progression is good, but that's not the entirety of what I feel people want from PVE progression. The ships are progression tools used to complete a goal. To me, it's that long term goal that is missing. That long term goal could be a long running story arc with enemy npc corps / races / whatever which gives meaning and purpose to what the PVE preferred player is trying to accomplish.
I'll admit that I haven't tried the exploration side of Eve (I cancelled my sub before it came out). But the name itself doesn't really inspire me to think that it introduces a much needed protagonist and story.
Oh I see you want lore and a story to follow and stuff? Well yeah most of Eves lore is out of game.
They have been trying to bring it in through epic arcs We have six now that really add to the game.
Im a big lore nut in the game (read the book, 270+ chronicles, short stories and Race history) and I too wish more was actually in game.
I'm hoping with the next two expansions more and more arcs are put into the game along with two very cool mechanics Detective missions with incarna and planetary conquest (Eves version of sim city).
CCP is smart they see people enjoy the pve they have in the game and its only a matter of time before more and more come. Sleepers,epic arcs & speedboat missions are just the start.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Join eve university and you will get a small idea on a wide variety of things to do, and, if you decide to stay on it will look good on your "CV". Also if you get into a bad corp in the begining or attempt to go it alone at first you will most likely throw you computer out the window at some stage in frustration.
Jam is sticky.
To me the word "lore" doesn't quite accurately define what is needed. To me, lore is just one part of the solution package. Because you could have lore in the game, but unless you involve the player in it then its useless. For example Anarchy Onlines "Prophet Without Honour" story is awesome but was hardly touched on in the game. SWG and AOC both have extensive backgrounds, but again don't actually involve the player in much of it.
So to me, from the perspective of a player who solely wants to PVE, a more extensive solution package would include not only pre-written lore as the foundation for the PVE experience, but also introduces numerous long running story arcs which are connected together (either losely or solidly), and envelopes the player both in the historical lore and also introduces them to new lore which unfolds as they progress.
E.g.
Pre-written lore:
The npc corps provide missiongs for the player involving:
Which results in:
This concept uses all the features currently in Eve and makes no modifications to them, all it does is help to "glue" them together to create a PVE experience which can help to cater for those who don't want to PVP and yet would like something a little more involving than just random missions.
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Alot of this stuff can be done already but it's even better because it's player driven.
Honestly why would anyone want to fight a war against NPCs when we have raging wars going on 23/7 in 0.0 sov, low sec FW and Empire wardecs?
we already discover old ancient technology the affects the game (jovian, sleeper & Terran).
We already have NPC owned 0.0 where npcs attack stations and gates.
I think you may want to try eve for more than just a trial.
I would take player driven content over staged npc wars anyday. You already have an impact on the games history on day one.
It almost sounds like you want all the features the pvpers have access to but bundled in a nice safe pve package.
Eve doesn't work that way.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
I think you're begining to miss the point. There is a huge difference between someone who wants to mainly PVE without being forced into PVP, and someone who mainly PVP's but enjoys the occasional PVE elements. They are each in opposite halves on the whole playstyle scale. They aren't the same and have different needs. I haven't a problem with player driven content, it works for the games PVP gameplay. And that's the issue here, the needs of PVE are different to those for PVP.
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"Unfortunatley no one can tell you what the matrix is, you have to see it for yourself !" - Morpheous, The Matrix.
No matter how people explain this 'game' to you its just never going to make any sense! Either you will take the red pill or the blue pill.
In other words you will either dive into it and find your own path, or you'll just show it the hand and walk away.
The best way is to not view eve as a 'game' a game gives you puzzles, challenges, a level and a score. Eve doesnt, its not really a 'game' in that sense. Its more like a virtual world. I suppose like 'Second Life'
More importantly, to me, its more of a social game! There are indeed some things that you can do on your own, but to be fair very little! You really do need other people to do stuff with. Only then does it become something you enjoy.
Sorry my reply is cryptic, but people can only show you the door. You must walk through it.
Very true Sadeyx, Eve does what it does and does it well. However that doesn't necessarily cover what everyone wants it to do. It has a niche, which you either enjoy or you don't. But there's no mistake that Eve COULD theoretically capture other niches too. But that's down to CCP to decide.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
I found EvE to be bland and boring at first attempt, I saw the same thing you did in the "Is fighting just going to be me circling a ship with guns on autofire." Basically I compared it to Lineage 2, world of warcraft etc and thought this is nowhere near as fun as those games are. The problem is I think I was looking at it the wrong way. If you try and play EvE the same way you play most other MMO games, and judge it by the same standards with the same expectations it probably won't work out for you. Infact to put it into perspective it would be lke trying to play and RTS game with one unit and you controlling every move it makes.
Fighting in EvE in my opinion is not mainly about reacting and shooting at the right time, its about preperation, planning and tactics and thats what makes the game enjoyable. I played for 2 months about 2 years ago and liked it, but at the time just wasn't massively into it because of my misconceptions. This time around I enjoy it a lot more, and the best part is playtime can count for nothing, some guy who can fly a titan could be in the wrong space, at the wrong time, in a ship he doesn't have great skills in and a pirate gang of 2-3 players who have been playing a month each could blow up his ship, and ransom his pod for Millions of ISK.
Start looking at the game as a planning and tactics game, and as less of a traditional MMO and you might actually enjoy it more and it might help you get a footing and find direction. If not, don't worry about it, if you give it a honest try in the right mindset and its not enjoyable its not the game for you, as well as that, if you cannot get into the mindset that its not like other games, then again, its not likely the game is what you are looking for.
www.noobwarfare.com - Marching to war against the morons of the world.
I honestly enjoy the hands off approach that CCP takes with its features.
They give us wormholes but its up to us to shape the mechanic and turn it into something that constantly changes and evolves.
When they release pve its always optional and following some story arc that actually changes lore in someway takes control away from players as a whole imo. Pve in the game is about personal conflict, dealing with small issues within the factions not some game changing event they leave that to player alliances (which add to lore and history as well).
See in eve if your going to change something there needs to be an opposing force, other players that want to keep you from doing that an eternal struggle that constantly evolves overtime. This just boils down to more pvp anyway, something that you wouldnt be interested in.
Having one pilot run a story and start a NPC war is something that CCP would never go for. Even if that meant things like Dev run events to get more players involved.
These guys like to drop a feature into a game and watch how we interact with it. having a pve mechanic like your suggesting would basically go against what CCP does.
Hell, Just look at Faction Warfare. TO many the racial conflicts feel artificial and this is the reason only a very small percentage of the population partake in that feature. FW almost feels static.
Now imagine how the population would react to something even more artificial like a staged Npc uprising progressed through pve. I think the forums would explode.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum