EVE online
by Sean on Nov.22, 2009, under
Hey everyone,
Just givin a shoutout to all those who may or may not have heard of an MMORPG called EVE online. Now since I am damn sure that I fail at describing things, Iwill just list some Pro's and Cons of the game that I have noticed in my 16 days of playing. They are as follows;
PRO'S
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- The playing environment consists of over five thousand interconnected star systems.
- The game has a balanced form of play which is much more realistic than other MMO's.
- The game is run on only one server system made of 3 separate support clusters and can host as many as 50,000 players at a time.
- Corporations (guilds/clans) are really helpful when trying to achieve certain goals (like mining and combat missions)
- Fully supported PVP system
- Unique skill point system heavily reliant on your attribute points.
- You can purchase PLEX cards ingame from other players that extends your subscription 30-60 days.
CON'S
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- Very, Very, VERY addictive. I spend every night up til 1 in the morning playing.
- Takes what some might say ridiculous amounts of time to get to the higher ranks in the game.
- When your ship blows up, you lose everything on it and depending on wether or not you have insurance, you might have to get another ship.
- When you get pod killed, you lose all your implants and lose skill points up to the maximum on your clone.
A few strange things can happen when you play for extended time. For example, the game has a very deep feel and you can get really immersed to the extent that you can get shivers and can even feel anxious. If you have any questions about the game then just leave a comment or ask me when we're at the next meeting because I will be showing it to whoever is interested. If you want to try the game out for a trial run, send me an email or leave a comment and I can forward a buddy trial invitation which gives you 21 days to play instead of the normal 14 days. I really suggest this game for anyone who is getting tired of other MMO's or just think that it appeals to their tastes. My my, this is a rather big post. I think ill wrap it up here.
P.S. Happy belated Newyear.
Sean
7 comments
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Sean
January 19, 2009 at 10:03 PM
1. The systems themselves arent really diverse in terms of looks or anything. All of the missions given by agents at the stations can pop up at any time. For instance, all of the agents are split up into different categories which determine what kind of missions you will be doing. Some are for mining, some for transporting one object to another station, retrieving something from a guarded area, or just going to eliminate some enemies. The missions can get a bit repetitive but they are most of the time worth the effort.As for the environments, they're mostly copy&paste, since making every system unique would be very hard to achieve, especially since the scale to which is played is so big.
2. Its kinda hard to explain this on the blog. I got this concept from a member from my corp, EVE online has much higher risks compared to other games. You get a greater sense of loss when you die and lose your ship, and an elevated sense of achievement when you finally get that one skill which lets you fly that a ship youve been anticipating for a long time. Theres also allot of subtle things which makes you think its inconvenient how it is, but makes you feel more in control.
3. I dont know much about corp's yet as its a very big thing to cover, but I can tell you a few things. The hosting of Corporations and Alliances is part of the games unique design in that most other MMO's dont really cover as much in terms of things you can do with your guilds/clans etc. In this game you can own entire star systems and stations, as well as go out in massive fleets and combat with other player owned alliances. Other games like WoW and such can only offer things like having guild tabbards and getting together for raiding dungeons. Anyone can join a corporation as long as they fit the criteria given in the appication form.
4. The game covers allot of ground on what you can do in-game. Most of the missions you can do are combat missions, but there's a few odd ones that only require mining to be done or a package to be delivered. You can get massive mining barges and make big money colecting money from refining the ore and selling it or giving it to your alliance to manufacture ships.
You can also purchase a freighter or some other ship and transport comodities from one place to another. The marketing system in the game is completely fueled by the players themseleves.
5. Money (AKA ISK) in the game is necessary to progress in the game. Without the money, you cant buy new ships or equipment. As for payment, it costs 30 dollars to sign up your account and 14.95 a month onwards. Heres what separates this game from many others though. Using the money ingame (ISK), you can purchase PLEX cards from other players. The use of PLEX cards actually extends your play time for 1 or 2 months (depending on which one you got). As far as I know, all you need to do is use them and it extends your subscription for the displayed amount. This means that once you get to a point in the game where you can make billions of ISK per month, you can fund your account without paying real dollars. Most of the time, the cards are sold for around 300 million ISK for 1 month and 600 million for a 2 month. If you dont really understand what ive said here, I'll just show you when we're in on saturday. Insurance is just purchased at any station that has the option, and you pay a certain percentage of the cost of your ship. Depending on the level of the insurance you purchased, you will be reimbursed for the set amount.
6. I think the game is addictive because it is so much more different than most MMO's. It is just so much more mature in feel compared to other games. Because more simple minded people would find this game boring and complex, it filters out all the people who make the game a bad experience, and leaves people who are helpful, cheerful and outgoing compared to the rude, cocky and immature kids/adolescents that think theyre better than everyone else. It does take a long time for your skills to advance in the game, as there are lots to learn and some takes days to level up, but you can do other things while you wait like read a book, do homework, play other videogames or even sleep. It can be frustrating sometimes, but what game that is worth playing doesnt have an edge which makes you cringe in anger? I've only been playing for about 20 days now but I've been geting so much better every day.
As for the game itself, youre going to need to go to this link, and download the installer at this link, just select the operating system, (Mac or PC) and click on the Premium Graphics download. If you have problems figuring it out or run into complications, ill download them myself and put it on a flash drive and install it myself on Saturday. Hope these are the answers you were looking for. Thanks for the questions, Ill be sure to send that invite to you, as I can send as many as I want.
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Liz
January 20, 2009 at 12:32 PM
wow...thanks Sean. You are so patient to answer all those questions. If only you could and in all this hard work and thinking to your teachers for an assignment ;) Honestly though, thanks for taking the time. I really want to talk to you more about this on Saturday. Can't wait (and I will talk to the tech guys to see if they can help with the installation, but if its not too much trouble it might be good if you could bring your flashdrive...will try and get back to you on that before saturday...you might have to remind me!)
How long does it take to install?
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Sean
January 20, 2009 at 5:47 PM
I dont think it would take more than a few minutes to install the game.
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Dark Angel
January 21, 2009 at 11:38 AM
I have the game curently downloaded on mu computer. Sean could you send me the promo code thing? Thanks!
e-mail it to me at: zacisadarkangel@gmail.com
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Liz
January 23, 2009 at 3:12 PM
Sean,
Just installed a 14 day trial of EVE on one of the computers. It looks pretty amazing so far. I really like how you choose your person and I am interested in these characteristics you choose. Hmmm, there will be lots of questions on this I think ;) Liz
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January 15, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Ok, Sean, first thing's first: You are excellent at describing things! You are great at teaching me about gaming and other things I am just learning!
Second, ... ok, I need to "deconstruct" a few things here to understand (oh, and maybe you should send me a buddy trial for the game, unless you can only do it once, in which case, don't spend it on me!):
1. (and please forgive me for these silly questions) these five thousand interconnected star systems... are they diverse, or are they kind of like UT3 where everything kind of looks the same (in my eyes)? Do you ever find that things are repetitive? Like, the environments, and even the music?
2. tell me how this game is more realistic than other MMOs... what does realistic mean??? is realistic the right word?
3. How do you make corporations (guilds/clans)? Is that part of the game, or something you know from other games (Guildwars, etc.)? Who would be in your clan?
4. Is this a combat game?
5. How does having money affect your game play if you have to purchase things? Do you continually have to pay someone to play, or is it a one time thing?
(How do you get insurance?)
6. Is it addictive because it takes ridiculous amounts of time to move up? Does this make the game more challenging, or more frustrating, or???? difficult?
I know that this is an insanely long list of questions, but it was really really interesting, Sean, and I do see you having a future in game reviewing :) You are very good at it. If my list of questions is too much, just respond to what you like, or feel free to teach me next saturday, the 24th. DO I need to install anything on the computers to get this game ready for us then?? Let me know! Liz