Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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133 of 155 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A game of comaraderie, March 12, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Eve is not so much an RPG as it is a vast strategy game. You pick a corporation and do battle for territory, sometimes over months or years. This is the most fun aspect of the game.
If you're a newbie to the game, you'll want to join a corporation straight away. One of the best ones is called GoonFleet (you may have read about them in the New York times). They accept newbies, too, so if you want to join just contact Celot or any other person in GoonFleet to join and they'll get you set up with some ships and a new player guide.
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49 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Difficult but rewarding, help available, March 11, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, so it's entirely possible to "pick-up and play", despite what I said in the review title. However, this isn't like World of Warcraft where you progress through the typical levels, acquire new skills, etc. EVE Online is a brutal game for the true beginner, there's not really any discussion about that.
On the other hand, this is THE sandbox game. Everything is (or can be) player-run. You can mine asteroids and sell the resultant product for money and become rich, or you can fly combat ships and kill NPCs and become rich, or you can fly combat ships and kill other players and become rich. It's even possible to be a trader, a space merchant, if you will, by buying low and selling high in the traditional sense. And that can also make you rich. The importance of money is only to keep you in new ships, should you unfortunately lose one. The only other use for money is to buy skills, but they are very cheap and you only need to buy them once.
But, as I said before, this game is very unforgiving to new players. However, because of the more mature player base (probably related to the steep learning curve which keeps out some of the more immature, younger players) there are many groups who will accept new players, provide training and support, resources for information about the game, and more. EVE isn't about twitch reaction time or how well you can control a joystick. EVE perfectly exemplifies the phrase "knowledge is power". A powerful battleship at operated by an inept pilot is no match for a smart pilot in a lowly cruiser.
That's why I love this game. New players can have a huge impact, especially when they are acting in support of a more experienced group (see: ex-Band of Brothers titan, worth approximately $6000 USD, killed entirely due to being decloaked by a small frigate, worth approximately $0 USD.)
With this said, if you are still interested in EVE Online (and I hope you are, despite what I've said about the steep learning curve) you are in luck, because there are lots of players who are very friendly to new players and, in fact, take an active stance on training new recruits. These players and groups are what allows EVE to receive a 5 star review from me. For example, Goonswarm, one of the most powerful alliances in the game, controlling multiple regions in 0.0 security space (i.e. the "Wild West" where anything goes) actively recruits new pilots. They have many resources geared towards helping new players including free frigates with modules, free skillbooks, an extensive wiki with articles ranging from biographies on current and past alliances and the history of EVE (which it's rich in), to how to properly pilot your ship, to how to become rich through production, and more. They've been fighting (though recently won) a multi-year war against another powerful alliance (now disbanded, called Band of Brothers) so you'll see a lot of bad publicity around them, but as someone with experience in multiple alliances, I can say that they undeniably offer new players the most training and resources to get started in EVE.
There are other groups out there who also offer training for new players, but they do not have nearly as much clout as Goonswarm, nor do they offer as much resources or opportunities in experiencing the game. However, they are viable alternatives and you should not be adverse to checking them out if you come across them.
One more good thing about EVE Online I had neglected to mention is the ability to buy "PLEX" cards with real money and sell them in game for in game money. This is a completely legal way to turn real money to in game money and a good option for players who want to spend more time doing things like PvP or want some capital to start producing ships, etc. Likewise, it's also possible to play the game "for free" by buying these PLEX cards for in-game money and turning them into play time. You essentially play for free. Either way, it's ideal for both the working "weekend warrior" or the unfortunately-unemployed with too much time on his/her hands.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rewarding learning curve, April 8, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Many of the other reviews here do a good job of detailing aspects of game play. I would say that the game is what you make of it.
I like numbers and tables so I create spreadsheets to track stuff. But that's me. The game does a good job of letting you look up whatever it is you need to know or telling you what skills you need in order to use something.
I like flying those ships through space and looking at them. The graphics are beautiful. I probably take 5 screenshots everytime I'm on because I keep finding things that just look gorgeous. With the latest graphics in the client software, the game looks really really good on my 3 year old laptop. (But it looks even better on my gaming machine.)
One of the aspects that most appeals to me is that with limited play time, my character is still training skills even when I'm not online, as long as I've remembered to assign him something to train. And the new training queue lets you queue up a series of skills over the next 24 hours. I usually tack on one really long training at the end of the queue in case it's a few days before I get back to the game. No endless repetition of a certain in-game action to 'train' a skill.
I like knowing that in 2 days, 12 hours, 27 minutes, and 17 seconds, I'll be able to fly that awesome ship I bought.
And while some people call the pirates (players) in the game 'griefers', I see them as one of the obstacles that makes the game exciting. And I've lost some really nice ships and equipment to them. Each time though, I was being just a little too casual about the 'safety' of my ship and thought I was tougher than that. I was wrong. I was a target in the wrong place at the wrong time. I won't be visiting those systems for some time to come. Or atleast I'll be smarter next time.
So, that said, it's an awesome game. Even before you really figure it all out, you'll find many things to enjoy. And as you figure it out, the trick is going to be figuring out where to invest your time and what to train your character in, because it's going to be a long long time before you run out of things to do or learn.
In addition to the game itself, there are a plethora of sites and blogs that have guides and tips to help guide you through the universe of EVE.
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