Eve'ing it Online

"Ohh Aaron, you have got to try Eve : Online, it’s the best thing since sliced bread became purchasable over the Internet !" Ok. "I mean, all the magazines are writing articles about it nearly every month !" Mmhmm, I nod. "And you know, at least it’s not World of Warcraft !" No, I think to myself, it’s an MMORPG in space. Captain Picard instead of Legless the Elf. Or whatever his name was.

I’m afraid that I’m a self-confessed MMORPG sceptic, and so have managed to happily abstain myself from the past decade (...ohh yes, it has been almost that long...) of popular MMORPG’ing. In the early days, circa 1996 and the release of Ultima Online and moving forward into the early 2000’s, as heralded in with EverQuest, I had the excuse of prohibitive cost to keep me away from the persistent worlds.

After all, back in those days you paid by the minute of online dial-up fun, where I am at least ; and on top of subscription fee’s one could rack up a pretty sum of real world gold to dampen your online frolicking. Unfortunately roll on the millennium and with the commercial success of EverQuest in particular, and the mass rollout of broadband ; and I had fewer and fewer excuses not to jump into some chain mail armour and join the increasingly mainstream-masses in doing something that would have been considered the exclusive purview of geekdom not five years before.

So it was that I wandered off into the world of persistent worlds for a brief period. I worked on my stats ; I killed computer-controlled NPC’s in numbers that would impress even the most hardened of NKVD agents and I interacted with the peeps. I learned the intricate arts of the trade, the new and evolving language of truncated online spk ; the customs and the fine art of managing your time. And then I promptly got bored and went off about my life.

Generally speaking the ever lasting system of upping your stats, killing the goblins/mutants/starships (delete where applicable) and running around with your guild/clan/alliance members never really held my attention for long. The social interaction of MMORPG’s is, I’m sure, as good a reason as any to get into these persistent games, viewing them as very complex chat rooms and message boards. Personally I prefer to have an IM client open, a forum in my browser and be working in the background. (Or was that the other way around ? That depends on whether or not I work for you...)

It’s actually quite odd that these games don’t hold my attention, I’ve often thought, as on paper they offer the kind of variety that I demand from my games. However in the end I suppose I carry the cold and calculating eye of the long-term gamer, and once I’ve cracked the system of how a game works it quickly loses its appeal ; unless there’s something more gratifying on top, ala unexpectedly running over sniper-infested bushes in Battlefield.

Still, have an open mind and all that. Eve : Online has been garnering quite a lot of attention of late. Without actually being numerically so, it can be seen as being the Third Way in the world of MMORPG’s. For a long while now many pundits in the industry, myself included, have hypostasized that there will only ever be enough room for two major MMORPG’s, and one or perhaps two smaller niche ones in the same spot (IE Asia, or "The West").

MMORPG’s are obviously more fun the more people you have playing them and moulding the world, and there are only so many subscribers to go around. Currently the major MMORPG is World of Warcraft, followed by EverQuest II. Before that it was EverQuest and Ultima. Eve is one of the niche games : Smaller than the others, but highly successful in its own sphere.

It’s probably predictable given the nature of nerd that with the other games mostly focusing on fantasy that Eve should inhabit the world of science fiction. Probably one of its more immediate and enduring attributes is the literally breathtaking surroundings of the world. A few years after its first release and the nebulae, spacecraft and bodies which inhabit the space of Eve still manage to impress.

Depending on when you’re about Eve can pull in about 10,000 to 20,000 punters on its one server, and though these are spread out over a vast range of space many population centres are filled with people day in, day out. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I first undocked from the starting space station in what is essentially the same training ground you will find in any MMORPG.

The nice thing about Eve however is that getting on the ladder is pretty simple. You can perform missions or mine ore from the ubiquitous asteroid fields, and set skills to train while you are away. The core of the game however comes at higher levels and in more dangerous fields.

Much has been said of the massive heists, battles and warring player corporations who inhabit the far flung and rogue stars of Eve. Certainly the political intrigue and depth of the economy on hand in Eve are a pleasure to read about, but usually if you’re a fresh player most of what you’ll see will be with your first corporation. Many of these make their money mining, taking convoys to the dangerous systems which contain the rarest of minerals.

It can be exciting for a time, but if you want to be a part of the wider conspiracies and intrigue of Eve you will have to invest months of time, training and preparation until you can finally build up the trust and resources required to take part.

For the new user the best part of Eve is getting involved with the other players in corporations. Quietly build up your stack of money on tranquil, almost boring unless you have someone to chat to, mining missions, or run off on repetitive NPC agent missions (the NKVD would be proud of me...)

Perhaps what I like the most about Eve is how hands-off it can be. The fact that one can set skills to train without having to be around to oversee them is something that many cheaters have worked long to perfect in other games. In Eve it is embraced, and it works. Nip in to fight the odd good fight, set a new skill and nip back out. So long as you are part of a decent group of players even those of us who bore of MMORPG’s can take it in small doses and enjoy them.

MMORPG Lite we shall call it, though spend enough time in it and it can be as engrossing as all those other ones tend to be, if you’re into that sort of thing. Just err, remember to eat and sleep the odd time.