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I'm aware that most of you don't play MMOGs or dislike them, but I'll throw this one out there anyway, both out of futility and because EVE might actually have some features you'd like.
1) It's futuristic and space based. Not in the Anarchy Online "roofle we have energy blades" sense, but in the Privateer/Freelancer/Earth & Beyond sense (though, unlike E&B, EVE doesn't suck. And it's still online.) Your character doesn't really exist outside of the portrait you make (and, really, it's one of the coolest character creation/portrait creation tools I've ever seen, complete with lighting effects, the ability to put the face at a particular angle/tilt, and the ability to actually choose where the eyes are pointing), but there's a rather large variety of very pretty/interesting ships to look at.
2) It's fucking gorgeous. Yes, graphic whores will be pleased. More than one solar system I've gone through has had me floored, simply due to quality of environment. Ship designs are neato too. I'm flying a Minmatar craft right now (as, well, I'm Minmatar), and it's a very dysfunctional, hobbled together design, whereas other ships are more sleek and futuristic.
3) It's a Sandbox/World MMOG, not a Treadmill/Grind MMOG. Think UO, not Everquest. There's plenty to do, especially since you can choose what kind of character to make, and you can find lots of missions to do for any type, whether mining, hauling cargo, owning NPC pirates, doing research/manufacturing, or even bounty hunting other players. It's also fucking huge, with thousands of star systems, and only one server (typically with 10K people playing together).
4) It's a relaxed pace. It's not the fastest paced game evar, especially some of the tutorial missions. Some long journies you can just set up a route with your nav computer, hit autopilot, and sit back and do something else. On the other hand, it's not demanding in terms of attention or commitment, unless you're going into low security areas, engaging in lots of combat, or otherwise putting yourself at risk.
Finally, the real winner.
5) Real-time skill based system. Let me clarify: You don't have to use skills to train them. There is no experience grinding. You simply go to your skill list, select a skill to train, find out how long it will take, and that's it. If you want to stop that training and switch to another skill to train, you lose no progress and can switch anytime. If you don't have a skill in your list you want to learn, go buy a skill book, use it, and it's on your training list. Best of all, it trains in real time, regardless of whether you're playing or not.
No, not kidding. Real example from yesterday: I had Minmatar Frigate skill, level 2. To get the next ship I want, I need Frigates level 3. So I checked. With my stats, the game informed me that it would take 16 hours to train Frigates up to 3. I said OK, started the training, quit the game, went to bed, got up, went to work, came home, logged in. Hey, I know Frigates 3! Now, granted, if you have low stats some skills will take longer to train, and training skills all the way up to rank 5 can take quite a while, but it's not like the game is forcing you to grind away for days on end to learn them - just fire and forget.
So, no, it's not a game for everyone. You're not going to log in and suddenly be able to fly a pimped out Battlecruiser and pwnzor everyone, even if someone did twink out the cash. Still, it's a lot less demanding than a lot of other MMOGs, and it's got some nice features to it. It's a complex game that could be worth a look if you're into the genre, and, hey, free trial.
I'm aware that most of you don't play MMOGs or dislike them, but I'll throw this one out there anyway, both out of futility and because EVE might actually have some features you'd like.
1) It's futuristic and space based. Not in the Anarchy Online "roofle we have energy blades" sense, but in the Privateer/Freelancer/Earth & Beyond sense (though, unlike E&B, EVE doesn't suck. And it's still online.) Your character doesn't really exist outside of the portrait you make (and, really, it's one of the coolest character creation/portrait creation tools I've ever seen, complete with lighting effects, the ability to put the face at a particular angle/tilt, and the ability to actually choose where the eyes are pointing), but there's a rather large variety of very pretty/interesting ships to look at.
2) It's fucking gorgeous. Yes, graphic whores will be pleased. More than one solar system I've gone through has had me floored, simply due to quality of environment. Ship designs are neato too. I'm flying a Minmatar craft right now (as, well, I'm Minmatar), and it's a very dysfunctional, hobbled together design, whereas other ships are more sleek and futuristic.
3) It's a Sandbox/World MMOG, not a Treadmill/Grind MMOG. Think UO, not Everquest. There's plenty to do, especially since you can choose what kind of character to make, and you can find lots of missions to do for any type, whether mining, hauling cargo, owning NPC pirates, doing research/manufacturing, or even bounty hunting other players. It's also fucking huge, with thousands of star systems, and only one server (typically with 10K people playing together).
4) It's a relaxed pace. It's not the fastest paced game evar, especially some of the tutorial missions. Some long journies you can just set up a route with your nav computer, hit autopilot, and sit back and do something else. On the other hand, it's not demanding in terms of attention or commitment, unless you're going into low security areas, engaging in lots of combat, or otherwise putting yourself at risk.
Finally, the real winner.
5) Real-time skill based system. Let me clarify: You don't have to use skills to train them. There is no experience grinding. You simply go to your skill list, select a skill to train, find out how long it will take, and that's it. If you want to stop that training and switch to another skill to train, you lose no progress and can switch anytime. If you don't have a skill in your list you want to learn, go buy a skill book, use it, and it's on your training list. Best of all, it trains in real time, regardless of whether you're playing or not.
No, not kidding. Real example from yesterday: I had Minmatar Frigate skill, level 2. To get the next ship I want, I need Frigates level 3. So I checked. With my stats, the game informed me that it would take 16 hours to train Frigates up to 3. I said OK, started the training, quit the game, went to bed, got up, went to work, came home, logged in. Hey, I know Frigates 3! Now, granted, if you have low stats some skills will take longer to train, and training skills all the way up to rank 5 can take quite a while, but it's not like the game is forcing you to grind away for days on end to learn them - just fire and forget.
So, no, it's not a game for everyone. You're not going to log in and suddenly be able to fly a pimped out Battlecruiser and pwnzor everyone, even if someone did twink out the cash. Still, it's a lot less demanding than a lot of other MMOGs, and it's got some nice features to it. It's a complex game that could be worth a look if you're into the genre, and, hey, free trial.
