I'm contemplating a stroll to the dark side: EVE. But first, full disclosure: I'm not a fan of the broader EVE community - at least many of those active on their forums and actively ganking/griefing/conning folks in-game. Some of the game's players are simply despicable.
The game/software itself, however, is pretty cool. The EVE universe feels like a "big" place by virtue of the number of folks that can play together simultaneously, and it feels dangerous - contrary to Elite, currently. Death has real meaning. Sure, there's insurance, but you have to rebuy your ship and all parts when you're destroyed, and all those parts have real world monetary value. Moreover, after watching some videos again recently, I appreciate the less-black aesthetic of "their" space, coupled with weight/feel of the different size ships (big ships turn slowly, small ships are much more maneuverable). Of course, you're not so much flying as pointing and clicking in the game, but the game is oddly drawing me in. And I'm not an EVE fan. I've subscribed, unsubscribed only to resubscribe and unsubscribe again. All this over just 6 months of actual gameplay. So why would I consider subscribing a 3rd time? It's a big, complicated game with a TON of people-interaction. I didn't enjoy it when I attempted to PvE, but I think I stand a reasonable chance of enjoying it if I join one of the big Corporations friendly to folks who just want to learn the intricacies of the game - such as EVE University.
I've got to be honest, I never in a million years thought I'd feel this way. While I LOVE the core engine in Elite, I really would love to see more added. Yes, I'm being a total hypocrite. Months ago I posted threads about how to have fun and avoid boredom in the game. I believed it with a passion... then. Now, I feel the need to be able do more. I agree with others who said that there needs to be more to do - and yes, it's a young game and more content will surely be added. But imagine Elite flight mechanics coupled with scale and complexity of EVE (not talking number of systems, but rather number of features). Wow - that would totally awesome. An absolute home run. And no, I don't expect Elite to evolve into EVE with actual flight mechanics. Elite clearly needs to become it's own thing, but many things can obviously be learned from the EVE engine.
I will absolutely continue to play Elite - though possibly not with the same enthusiasm I did from the beginning of premium beta. I've barely touched any other games for many, many months. But I now feel the urge for more.... features and interaction. More "life" to the universe and more stuff to do. I haven't touched Elite for a week - which is unusual for me. I have a cool set up, bought specifically for Elite: a gaming chair with Saitek rudder pedals, a Thrustmaster Warthog, Track IR 5, Oculus DK2... But I haven't touched this multi-thousand dollar set-up in a week.
I'm not sure if anyone feels similarly and is going through the same. But again, just to clarify: I'm NOT a big EVE fan. I've been quite the opposite, for some time, in fact.
But again, the core mechanics of EVE are pretty sound (minus the non-existent flight model, of course!). As I think about EVE, I also think there are some really quick and basic things Elite could do to drive more interaction - get the most from it's multiplayer experience. Wings is obviously a step in the right direction, but imagine really basic player-run corporations - as a starting point in Elite: Just being able to create one and accept members - could work just like a friends list in-game. Except you'd be a part of a named corporations. Would help drive player interaction, though the small instance size might limit actual interaction of course. And system-wide chat - for those wanting to participate - could also be created. Heck, it could be set up as in-ship text messaging via a ship intercom, to make it feel less "gamey". There are so many things, I think, FD could do to increase player interaction/collaboration, many of which may not need massive amounts of development time by FD.
I'd personally love to see some of these things shoved to the forefront of the development roadmap, as until then, this game will be a largely PvE experience. Which is of course how it started, but I'd still like to see more PvP stuff.
Anyway, a bit of a ramble. If you got this far - and managed to digest 50% of it - well done, you'll get an A+! And make no mistake about it: I LOVE Elite! I just want it to improve further.
The game/software itself, however, is pretty cool. The EVE universe feels like a "big" place by virtue of the number of folks that can play together simultaneously, and it feels dangerous - contrary to Elite, currently. Death has real meaning. Sure, there's insurance, but you have to rebuy your ship and all parts when you're destroyed, and all those parts have real world monetary value. Moreover, after watching some videos again recently, I appreciate the less-black aesthetic of "their" space, coupled with weight/feel of the different size ships (big ships turn slowly, small ships are much more maneuverable). Of course, you're not so much flying as pointing and clicking in the game, but the game is oddly drawing me in. And I'm not an EVE fan. I've subscribed, unsubscribed only to resubscribe and unsubscribe again. All this over just 6 months of actual gameplay. So why would I consider subscribing a 3rd time? It's a big, complicated game with a TON of people-interaction. I didn't enjoy it when I attempted to PvE, but I think I stand a reasonable chance of enjoying it if I join one of the big Corporations friendly to folks who just want to learn the intricacies of the game - such as EVE University.
I've got to be honest, I never in a million years thought I'd feel this way. While I LOVE the core engine in Elite, I really would love to see more added. Yes, I'm being a total hypocrite. Months ago I posted threads about how to have fun and avoid boredom in the game. I believed it with a passion... then. Now, I feel the need to be able do more. I agree with others who said that there needs to be more to do - and yes, it's a young game and more content will surely be added. But imagine Elite flight mechanics coupled with scale and complexity of EVE (not talking number of systems, but rather number of features). Wow - that would totally awesome. An absolute home run. And no, I don't expect Elite to evolve into EVE with actual flight mechanics. Elite clearly needs to become it's own thing, but many things can obviously be learned from the EVE engine.
I will absolutely continue to play Elite - though possibly not with the same enthusiasm I did from the beginning of premium beta. I've barely touched any other games for many, many months. But I now feel the urge for more.... features and interaction. More "life" to the universe and more stuff to do. I haven't touched Elite for a week - which is unusual for me. I have a cool set up, bought specifically for Elite: a gaming chair with Saitek rudder pedals, a Thrustmaster Warthog, Track IR 5, Oculus DK2... But I haven't touched this multi-thousand dollar set-up in a week.
I'm not sure if anyone feels similarly and is going through the same. But again, just to clarify: I'm NOT a big EVE fan. I've been quite the opposite, for some time, in fact.
But again, the core mechanics of EVE are pretty sound (minus the non-existent flight model, of course!). As I think about EVE, I also think there are some really quick and basic things Elite could do to drive more interaction - get the most from it's multiplayer experience. Wings is obviously a step in the right direction, but imagine really basic player-run corporations - as a starting point in Elite: Just being able to create one and accept members - could work just like a friends list in-game. Except you'd be a part of a named corporations. Would help drive player interaction, though the small instance size might limit actual interaction of course. And system-wide chat - for those wanting to participate - could also be created. Heck, it could be set up as in-ship text messaging via a ship intercom, to make it feel less "gamey". There are so many things, I think, FD could do to increase player interaction/collaboration, many of which may not need massive amounts of development time by FD.
I'd personally love to see some of these things shoved to the forefront of the development roadmap, as until then, this game will be a largely PvE experience. Which is of course how it started, but I'd still like to see more PvP stuff.
Anyway, a bit of a ramble. If you got this far - and managed to digest 50% of it - well done, you'll get an A+! And make no mistake about it: I LOVE Elite! I just want it to improve further.
After all, EVE is the best player driven sandbox MMORPG there is. I, for one, have been playing it passionately for seven years, and still have fond memories of it. Quit only after I felt that I've done pretty much everything, and my old buddies leaving for same reason also contributed to that decision.
