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Exploring the Space Lanes in New Eden

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Eve Blog Banter - What Drew Me Into Eve?

This month's EVE Blog Banter comes to us from Brinelan over at The Shard. He asks: What drew us into EVE, what keeps us playing the game and what brought us back if we've ever left?

I was four years old when I was taken to my first movie. It was summer and my parents took me in the old silver Camaro to the local Drive In where they were playing the big hit from last year: Star Wars. It was the summer of '78 and I was lost to space forever.

Over the years of my youth Star Wars, Star Trek, and anything else that involved space ships captured my imagination. I had hordes of space Legos and played for hours in the rec room in the basement buildings space ships and having imaginary space battles.

When I got into computers, space simulation games figured high on my list. Master of Orion series, Star Fleet battles, X-Wing & TIE Fighter, etc. Later as I got into table top wargaming, it was always the sci-fi elements that attracted me into Warhammer 40K instead of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. And Battle Fleet Gothic scratched an itch I never knew I had with its lumbering capital ships and epic space combat.

So one night when I was in the local Games Workshop cleaning up from a battle and I heard two friends talking about this MOO game called Eve, I was immediately intrigued. The one friends was describing how he had a cloaked stealth bomber and he was trying to get a drop on an enemy ship. I left the store very curious but leery; I had never liked the idea of a game you had to pay for every month.

I got on the internet and did some research. I learned about Eve's complexity and depth, sandbox gameplay, open-ended universe... but the only thing that really forced me to break my MMO virginity was the pictures of the sexy array of space ships and descriptions of space combat. I tried it out and the first time I undocked I was hooked.

* * * * *

It may have been the space ships that drew me in, but its not what kept me here. For over two years solid I have played Eve and my desire has not been slaked. Pretty ships alone cannot be the answer, so what is?

One thing is the social aspect. Flying with other people, regardless of the activity, is often more fun than anything you can do alone.

Another thing is the PvP. Not just the one versus one fights, but all the complexities into fleets and maneuvures, traps, scouting, logisitics, etc. From what I've read, Eve is the closest thing to actually simulating warfare on a large scale in an MMO. We don't need battlegrounds or scenarios, those artificial constructs are superflous in a game where combat can occur anywhere or anytime. Its deep, engrossing, and a hell of a lot of fun.

Lastly its the number of options open to a player without having to "re-spec" or re-roll a character. I can do anything I want and Eve offers a lot of things to do.

* * * * *
I can't answer the last part of the question as I have never left Eve. I can't imagine right now even wanting or needing to take a break. And it would take an awesome game of epic proportion to draw me away from her, my first MMO love.

Update: Other participants of the Blog Banter.
Participants:
Posted: 8:00 AM
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13 comments:

  1. Wow some amazing parallels between us Kirith :) Star wars FTW..lol I was 9 when I saw it made quite an impression on me.
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  2. Its worth noting that as a child I went as Darth Vader three out of four years in a row. And the break was when my family forced me to go as Zorro instead. :P
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  3. However, Star Trek II will be my all time favourite space combat movie until someone gets off their ass and makes another tenseful ship to ship combat like it.
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  4. The serendipitous way the fights roll out...and the fact that outcomes cannot be known ahead of time in PvP...make that aspect of the game utterly addictive and so much fun!

    Heh...when original Star Trek was first on television, I was in second or third grade...my much older sister would make my brother and I go to bed at the normal time, then she'd sneak in to invite me back out to watch it because she knew I loved it! In seventh grade, I was allowed to join the Science Fiction Book Club and was in heaven for a whole summer after a box of 10 big fat anthologies and other novels arrived. Later, when Star Wars came out, I remember standing in line for HOURS to get in to see it. So yeah...I guess I've been a sci-fi aficionado from the time I was a pup.

    Hey--did you ever play the tabletop 3-player game, Web and Starship? I played it a lot with my gaming group (we had a Traveler campaign going for five years!) and it was so much fun.
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  5. I like how you went all the way back to being 4. Good post.
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  6. Mynxee: Never heard of it. Got a linky?

    PsychiDiver: Yeah, my geekness started early and the odds were against me... I grew up in rural Ontario Canada where the nearest real comic book store was an hour away and high speed internet just arrived to my parent's area last year. None of my friends (or family) except one was into scifi or fantasy like I was, the rest were into guns, hunting, hockey, snowmobiles, ATVs, animals, and drinking. And later on, golfing. It was an uphill battle. :)
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  7. @Kirith: Look on this page, partway down. I might have to rustle me up a copy of this game, although its been long out of print.
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  8. Nice post.

    Ah, tabletop gaming. I never did any spaceships tabletop gaming, just the WW2 games by Avalon Hill- Panzer Leader, Squad Leader etc. Big boxes, big rules, great fun!
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  9. I used to enjoy all kinds of computer games and tried a lot of them. Of course due to my talent to get bored very quickly I never finished them. So, after a while instead of playing them I started to keep myself informed on news, latest games publishings and all the stuff related to games. Now I can find all the games news and reviews on PC District.com.
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  10. I'm more of a Star Wars fan than Star Trek, if only for the more "realistic" look of it. Star Trek always seemed to be too "clean". The again, no other SciFi series had the chemistry that Shatner/Kelley/Nemoy had as actors. Great post!
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  11. Star Wars Lego spaceships....man, that takes me back.
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  12. In terms of look and feel, Battlestar Galactica gets my vote in terms of "most like EVE" but Firefly is right up there too in a lot of ways. I'm glad that these sci fi shows have gotten more realistic looking compared to, for example, most of the Star Trek series. Still...I can stay absorbed in a day-long marathon of Star Trek shows pretty easily even now.
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  13. You and I are one in the same. I actually went out in a replica Darth Vader costume this Halloween. Wore it on the commute train even.

    I also like Firefly, Battlestar, and many other things that are common to our generation's sense of goodness.

    Very well written post.
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