IGN heeft zich verdiept in de vijf meest gehoorde vooroordelen over EVE Online. Zo wordt onder meer gekeken naar de overlevingskansen van beginners, de opbouw van de spelwereld en de verschillen met andere MMOs.
May 06, 2008 - EVE Online is  CCP's popular, award-winning persistent state universe that takes place thousands of years in the future. The discovery of a stable natural wormhole made it possible for humanity to cross the immense vastness of space to a region so distant that the stars in the sky were completely unfamiliar. Naming the area where they arrived New Eden, the first explorers set about exploring rapidly in every direction. Countless others soon followed in their wake. They established thousands of colonies, many of which were not yet fully self-sufficient when the sudden, unexpected collapse of the gateway cut them off completely from all contact with Earth, including much-needed supplies. As a result, most of the outposts did not survive; some failed almost immediately, while others managed to endure on the brink of extinction for centuries or even millennia before succumbing.
Among those that lasted, five achieved the status of major powers. Now known as the Amarr Empire, Gallente Federation, Caldari State, Minmatar Republic and Jovian Empire, they have co-existed in relative peace. Despite the inevitable differences of opinion and occasional minor skirmishes, they have always tempered their actions by remembering that the consequences of an all-out inter-stellar conflict would be severe for all, no matter which faction, if any, might emerge victorious. Ironically, the game's history took a similar path. It showed considerable potential early on, then lost access to important resources when its original publisher left the business. CCP took on that role itself, struggling for some time before EVE attained delayed success, which some observers deemed nearly impossible. With the title celebrating its fifth anniversary today, we thought it fitting to examine some current misconceptions associated with it.
Five Misconceptions of EVE
Newbies will never stand a fighting chance against old players
The best way to prove this sentiment wrong is to point out an alliance called Goonfleet that was mostly formed of players. Coming from another internet community, they decided it would be fun to all start playing EVE Online together, and to attempt to overthrow one of the oldest existing alliances, Band of Brothers. Initially, Goonfleet was not really taken seriously by many of the established alliances, but its sheer numbers and determination made up for the fact its members were new, many having less than 10 million skillpoints. This is merely one example that shows how newcomers do have a fighting chance against long-term players. The key to making it work is to bring your friends.
When the time is right, they try to make a deal that will work to the benefit of their own alliance or corporation, and either offer something or threaten enemies with total annihilation. Another way newbies can be effectively competitive is by using their vessels' fittings as an advantage. Maybe some veterans were hoping for a quiet mining session, and didn't set up their ships for battle; their combat skillpoints won't help them when they try to mine your craft. And even if they are fitted for combat, there are so many ways you can make an enemy ship ineffective just by having the right counter fit for it. Every class has its weakness and a common way to render a foe useless is by using electronic warfare or evasive maneuvering, staying out of its optimal range by flying too close or too far.
In addition, quite a few people still believe that skillpoints matter a lot. This is not true because of how EVE's skill system works. For each new skill level, the training time increases roughly exponentially, but the payoff rises linearly. In the end, the advantage for a veteran player on a certain skill is maybe five to 10 percent, an amount that can be negated fairly easily with fittings, tactics, strategy and knowing combat is more than just pressing random buttons and hoping for the best.
EVE is only about combat
While combat gets a lot of attention in EVE, something not many people know is that all great wars take weeks, if not months of perpetration by players who are responsible for fueling the effort through production. Every ship, case of ammunition and module must be crafted. This is no small feat, as it takes a long time to get all the minerals needed to make a ship; for example, building the first titan took an entire alliance close to a year.
Aside from alliances going to war, day to day production is mostly done by players. In fact, they produce roughly 90 percent of all in-game goods. They gather raw materials, refine, sell, combine and trade them. Some players don't have the best skills in any of these areas, so they may outsource the work to friends who, for example, are better at refining minerals to reduce loss. This all adds to a genuine, compelling economy where the competition is even fiercer than on the battlefield. A very "real" part of EVE is controlling the market and playing the economics game, which CCP aids by publishing the Quarterly Economic newspaper.
Anywhere there is an economy and strife, politics will follow. Several alliances and corporations play on the public opinion of the community to influence the morale of their enemies, and then send in their specialists to negotiate a truce or surrender, without making it a pill too bitter to swallow by their enemies.
These "politicians" come up with propaganda campaigns, maintain a network of infiltrators, stay on top of other affairs in the universe, and basically get as much information as they can to gain an advantage over their enemies. When the time is right, they try to make a deal that will work to the benefit of their own alliance or corporation, and either offer something or threaten enemies with total annihilation. EVE's history has shown that most people are willing to accept a bone if it can save them from complete destruction. Mining is the only way to earn money as a rookie
When people start the game, the tutorial requires them to mine a little. Even though you can skip the whole thing, it's recommended that you finish it - including the mining section. Afterwards, you may choose never to mine again because you are hooked up immediately with an agent who will give you missions to complete, and later on, you can deal with more and more of them as your standing increases. When you complete an assignmant, you get a financial reward, and sometimes get to keep items as well. Occasionally, you may be asked to give your agent some ore, but you can buy from the market if you do not want to mine.
EVE was designed as a sandbox, so there is always room for people who just want to log in a few times a week for different amounts of time. There's no need or requirement to play 10 hours a day to be successful. The reason this misconception exists is that, depending on the market, mining for ore to refine into minerals that are in high demand can be the most lucrative thing to do at a given time. It's not uncommon to see a four-year veteran player mining veldspar next to you because it's the fastest way to make money at that moment. Because EVE's economy is largely in the hands of the players, the demands fluctuate, and what pays the most changes as well.
Of course, you don't have to do that what pays best if you don't want to, and there are relatively safe ways to make money, like the mission running described above.
You can't enjoy the game if you aren't in a major alliance
The players who receive the most recognition from the community are usually those players who work without an alliance and still manage to create reputations by and for themselves. There were several well known, feared PVPers who fought against gangs with great success, always solo. They didn't rely on friends or alliances to help them, but instead dealt with whoever came their way, alone. Whenever they won, they didn't have to share the glory with anybody else. The community respected that, and still does to this day.
Aside from combat, you can also enjoy other aspects of the game without the help of an alliance. One method might be to enjoy the profits from supplying a low security system with common goods. If you do it right, you will pretty much establish a little economy and monopoly there and nearby. People will often pay a little more for something so they don't have to travel 10 jumps. You would still interact with other players, but not directly because you play the economy, which is controlled by everyone as a whole, so anything that happens will affect your game as well. The fluctuations of the overall market would affect your system, and keeping on top of this can be very intense and rewarding.
You don't need to have an alliance to do missions either, and you can even complete high-end ones that require combat alone. You won't have to wait around for your alliance to get ready; rather, you can just jump into action whenever you want. It might be easier to finish some with friends but certain players are known for tackling them alone with great success.
With the release of the Empyrean Age expansion this summer, it will be possible to side with one of the factions and fight in its name for territorial control with or against other players. You will not have to be in an alliance to do this. We expect that working with a faction will be a perfect compromise for those who aren't keen on the player alliance idea, but who wouldn't mind working together with others on occasion.
EVE is not meant for casual players
A very important difference between EVE and other games that are attractive for casual users is the ability to train and advance your character even if you are not logged in. You can start a skill that takes 16 hours to complete and do something else during that time. Unlike other titles, you don't have to do the same thing over and over again to advance your skills or attributes.
EVE was designed as a sandbox, so there is always room for people who just want to log in a few times a week for different amounts of time. There's no need or requirement to play 10 hours a day to be successful. Even the most casual player will still have an effect on the overall game because of the way the economy is structured. One can log in for maybe 30 minutes just to restart a production line, sell a new batch of ships, browse the market for cheap minerals, and maybe place an order or two. This user can have as big as an effect as another who camps a gate for five hours and shoots eight ships.
It's not strange to see people go through phases of different play styles. Sometimes, they'll spend six hours or more a day in EVE, then take a break and come back as very casual gamers after training some new skills.
Chantal Zuurmond
Game Designer EVE Online
CCP
Matthew Woodward
Game Designer, EVE Online
CCP
Arnar Gylfason
Game Designer, EVE Online
CCP
Arend Stuhrmann
Associate Producer, EVE Online
CCP |
