EVE Online: Red Moon Rising

[Itzena]

Just in case anyone is vaguely interested in playing EVE again (or starting playing, for that matter), here's the patch notes for today's patch/free expansion:

The Blood Moon of War is waxing as the technological advances of Alliances rival those of the Empires. New implements of destruction force battle lines to be redrawn. Research, Manufacturing and Resource Gathering have advanced to keep up with the appetite of War. Alliances are bending the Empires to their will with the encroachment of Starbases into what was previously secure space and Pilots are taking protection of themselves and their assets into their own hands. This is not an easy fight, as Factions turn their weapons of war against the Alliances, Corporations and Pilots of EVE. The Red Moon is Rising; Death follows in its path.

Features

* 39 new ships, including:
o Titans
o Carriers & Motherships
o Fighters and
o 23 other Tech 2 Ships.
* Players are able to control more of the EVE Universe, as Starbase Structures may be deployed in higher security space than before.
* Technological advances have been made in Weapons & Modules, Drones, Cloning, Research & Manufacturing and Mining.
* 4 new bloodlines are available, one for each Empire race. Bloodlines will be deployed in their own content update slated for January, 2006.
* New COSMOS Constellations have been added to the Amarr Empire and Gallente Federation.
* Players are able to take matters into their own hands to protect themselves and their resources with the 'Eye for an Eye' and JetCan flagging changes.
* NPCs are more able to protect themselves with the introduction of Elite NPC module use.
* Combat revisions, Optimization changes, Tractor beams and much, much more await you!

Content, Fixes and Improvements

Ships

* Tech level 1 ships have received an overhaul. Frigates, Destroyers, Cruisers and Battlecruisers now have more defined roles in combat. You can read more about the changes in this forum post.
* With the changes made to tech level 1 ships, Faction ships have also received an overhaul. More on the changes to faction ships can be found in this forum post.
* The hit points of all ships have been increased by 25%.
* The capacity of the Battlecruiser capacitor has been increased by 25%.
* The Battlecruiser info text displayed an incorrect bonus for Warfare Link modules.
* The Rattlesnake had an incorrect description. It receives a 5% damage bonus on hybrids rather than a 10% range bonus per level of Gallente Battleship.
* The mass of Covert Ops ships were incorrect, mass of Anathema has been decreased to 1.81 million kg and Helios to 1.79 million kg.
* The instances where initiating warp from zero velocity would result in a drained cap, but starting initiating warp from a velocity greater than zero would not drain the cap, has been resolved.
* Base range of Jump Drives has been doubled, with range skills maximized for jump drive operation jumps of up to 12.5 light years are possible.
* Stealth Bombers no longer receive a targeting delay when decloaking and receive a 5 second reactivation delay on cloaking devices.
* If you are in a gang and warping seperately from your gang, you will not participate in any gang warp initiated during your warp travel.
* If you are warping lose connection, you will still enter an emergency warp. When you connect again, you should be warped to the original warp destination.
* A certain icon of the holidays may appear in the EVE world.

Weapons and Drones

* Drones have received a major overhaul; Drones are more robust and able to deal more damage, but players can control less numbers. For further information on the changes made to the Drone system, please read the Dev Blogs found here and here.
* The volume of Torpedoes and Cruise missiles has been reduced by two-thirds, as have Siege and Cruise missile launchers. Heavy missile and Heavy missile launcher volume has been reduced by three-fifths.
* Small, medium and heavy drones have received an increase to their damage.
* Medium and Heavy Drones now have a higher signature resolution.
* Heavy drones have received a tracking boost.
* Drones are no longer able to lock on a control tower, move through a force field and continue actions, like repair, even if they were launched by a player with force field access.
* Titans and Motherships can add drones to their drone bays via Maintenance arrays by right click the drones and selecting 'Move to Dronebay'. Siege Mode damage has been increased by 25%.
* Odd things will happen to the effects of certain weapon systems during the holiday season.

Modules

* The calculation method used when stacking multiple modules of same type has changed. More information can be found in this Dev Blog.
* Invulnerability Field (Multi-Shield Hardener) requires less capacitor for activation.
* Damage Control has been improved, the module now requires activation and gives resistance bonuses to shields and armor.
* Increased damage output of heavy missile launchers.
* You are now able to create Cynosural fields in 0.4 security systems.
* Siege Warfare Link - Active Shielding and Siege Warfare Link - Shield Efficiency now give also give bonuses to shield transporters.
* Small drones no longer appear to be micro-warping at all times. They can be tracked and destroyed as intended.
* Capital Armor Repairers and Shield Boosters have their proper bonuses applied.
* Caldari Navy Control System renamed to Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System.
* ScanResolution receives the proper stacking penalties.
* Projected ECCM no longer needs the ship with the module fitted to have higher sensor strength than the ship that it is boosting.
* Reinforced bulkheads have all been given a flat +5% more structure bonus. Some meta types now give less speed reduction.
* Shield Extenders now require 1/2 as much grid but give a slight signature radius penalty.
* Armor plating now adds a slight mass increase for the proper sized ship. This will be more noticeable when fitting oversized plates to smaller ships.
* Freight Containers have been added. These Freighter-only containers allow in-ship sorting and organization. They cannot be jettisoned.
* A module fitted in-space via a maintenance bay or maintenance array will be brought online without consumption of capacitor energy.
* Capacitor Booster Charges and the modules that benefir from their use have been reduced in volume/capacity by 50%. They will now take less cargo hold space.
* ECCM Modules no longer bonuses to ship scan strength that is a set number, they now add a percentage bonus.

Skills and Implants

* In an effort to curb Trial account abuses, it is no longer be possible to train piloting skills from the Spaceship Command Group other than [Race] Frigates, [Race] Cruisers, Destroyers and Spaceship Command on Trial accounts, nor will it be possible to pilot ships from other than these classes on Trial accounts. Subscription accounts have no such limitation on training or piloting.
* Fixed an issue so Dreadnoughts, Carriers, Motherships and Titans now require the skill 'Jump Drive Operation' to be trained only to level 1.
* Some Missile Specialization skills were giving a bonus to launchers that did not require the skill. Now they only give a bonus to modules that require the skill.
* Target Painter II requires Target Painting at lvl 4.
* Changed description on Michi's mining implant so it's clear that it only applies to mining lasers.
* Gang and Missile Implants have been added.

NPCs

* The names for various NPC Pirates have changed. For a complete list, please read this forum post.
* All NPC Pirate Factions have been upgraded with 34 new NPC types, these are: 6 new destroyers, 6 new elite frigates, 6 new battlecruisers, 8 new elite cruisers and 6 new battleships per faction. Commander versions have also been added for all these new NPCs. Read more about these new NPCs in this Dev Blog.
* NPC Elite Frigates capable of Warp Scrambling have invaded 0.3 space.
* NPC Pirate Mining teams will now attack players mining their ore. No claim jumping!
* NPC spawns in asteroid belt have changed so higher number of larger NPCs and fewer small vessels appear. This means an average "battleship spawn" might have 2-3 battleships with 2-3 cruisers - instead of 1-2 battleships with 4-6 cruisers.
* Loot Tables have been adjusted. Basic modules and "named basic modules" should no longer be found in loot cans. Also small and medium sized modules should not drop anymore from battleship NPCs.
* NPC "boss" types are now immune to all effects but damage. These include named officers in asteroid belts, end bosses in deadspace complexes and various mission NPCs.
* Nosferatus and Energy Neutralizers now affect the armor repair or shield boost rate of NPCs.

Deadspace Complexes and Missions

* Blueprint copies for faction ships now only drops of NPCs in the end rooms of complexes.
* At least one mission sequence, consisting of 3-5 missions, has been added to each Empire faction block for level 2, 3 and 4 agents. The Empire faction blocks are Amarr/Caldari and Gallente/Minmatar.
* 6 new Cold War theme generic missions have been created, as well as 20 new Cold War theme COSMOS missions, which are placed in the Audesder / Kenobanala systems.
* Some COSMOS Cold War mission sequences have had loot drop changes. Now some of the pirate faction mission NPCs have a chance of dropping gang implants.
* Added generic level 3 and 4 storyline missions which have a chance of dishing out the new missile implants.
* Some agents now give offers with Empire Charters as a reward.
* Zor occasionally carries a Custom Navigation Hyper-Link of his own manufacture as a loot drop.
* The Acceleration Gates in the deadspace exercise complexes are closer to the locations where they are actually needed to exit.
* Modified the agent dialogue/briefing for the final Angel/Guristas Strike missions to avoid a vague term causing a misconception. Also modified the hint text in the journal.
* "Screaming" Dewak has upgraded the security measures in his establishment, the Pith's Penal Complex.
* Loot for Station Ultima is now a little more "Ultima". After it has been destroyed, the Centus Sansha are not as quick to rebuild it as they have been.
* The damage output of Station Ultima has been slightly reduced.
* Station Ultima has a chance to be stocked a bit more frequently with valuables.
* The Serpentis Fleet Shipyard (10/10 complex) has been made much harder and should be at least closer to the difficulty level it was intended to be. You have been warned! Among other changes made, its main overseer is also better equipped than before. However, taking him out could prove more lucrative.
* When the deadspace overseer "Serpentis Fleet Stronghold" has been taken down, it will now stay down for a bit longer than it did - more in line with what was intended.
* The Centus Sansha have had problems with the security in their Centus Assembly T.P. deadspace complex, rated 10/10 by DED. They have therefore recalibrated some of the acceleration gates and made the complex harder to get through. Amongst other things, reports indicate that the last gate calls for more than one key to be in a pilot's cargo for him to get through.
* The overseer in the Sansha’s Command Relay Outpost has recalibrated some sentry guns, but also been forced to downgrade some of them to a weaker module.
* The defenses in the Sansha War Supply Complex and the Angel Cartel Naval Shipyard have been slightly modified and made harder.
* A new “contested” complex has seen the light of day, without the typical agent/mission setup. It is more akin to Angel’s Red Light district and the other “static” complexes except it is only found in one location.
* The Rogue Drones have given up rebuilding their base in Sobaseki. Screeching noises coming from their hive conscioiusness have been deciphered as: "Too much trouble."
* Ceaseless combats have forced the Pith Guristas to back out of Sobaseki and move move their embattled deadspace depot to the Uosusuokko system in Lonetrek.
* Bonus rewards in the 'Revenge is Sweet" mission were being over written and default ISK or commodities were being given instead. This has been fixed.
* Tools used for T2 manufacturing such as RAM and R.Db's have returned as Agent mission bonus rewards.
* Changed the missions allocated on Taspar Zolankor and Nikmar Jyran so that they ask for 5 Sansha copper tags instead of Blood Raider copper tags.
* Commanders no longer spawn at the wrong stage of the 'Gone Berserk' mission.
* The COSMOS mission, 'Pilgrim - Festival' has had its cargo database entry corrected. Players accepting this mission will now transport the proper cargo.
* The Damsel is no longer in distress. She was rescued enough times that she got the hint and installed better security systems at home. However, the Seven's Commanders are still a threat and need to be taken care of.
* Certain COSMOS missions mistakenly required collateral. These missions have been fixed.
* It is possible to cancel research with an agent if your standing drops below the agent's minimum requirement.

New Player Experience and Tutorial

* The new player experience has been improved again. The ship computer's tutorials are shorter and more numerous, a number of text/audio clarifications have been added, unclear information either cut or improved, more pictures added and Aura has new voice controls in "her" interface. All known bugs with resetting/replaying and shutting the tutorials off are resolved. Generally, the tutorials run more smoothly and are more easily manageable.
* A volume slider, 'Replay', and 'Pause' buttons have been added to Aura's Interface.
* Aura's graphical representations during the tutorials are better integrated and more clear.
* An advanced Communications tutorial has been added.
* An advanced Fittings tutorial has been added.
* New players will automatically join Help and Rookie Help Chat channels. Experienced players may elect to depart from these channels when they desire.
* Veldspar asteroids in the deadspace training complexes Warp-In points contain less veldspar than before. The veldspar in the "Mining" pocket however, accessible to rookie ships only, is all in all more plentiful.
* The Station and Flight tutorials have received some audio upgrades.
* Skipping forward through the tutorial no longer causes an exception error.
* Aura and other Tutorial Icons no longer flash at an annoyingly fast rate.
* It is possible to close Aura's window during the 'Losing a ship' and other tutorials by using the close window [X] icon.
* Slash commands have been made useable during the playback of tutorials.
* Cruiser crosshairs no longer display when targeting the frigate-class Gisti Training Vessel in the tutorial and all NPC Pirates appear in the Overview as they should.
* The New Player Experience Agent tutorial Agent no longer refers to the Address book, but to People and Places as intended.
* Selecting Tutorials from the Help menu has been updated to show all tutorials available.
* ISD volunteers in Polaris Frigates will be able to follow new players through acceleration gates to continue assisting the New Player Experience.

Player Owned Structures

* Starbase structures may be anchored in higher security space, as long as certain prerequisites are met. These are as follows:
o Security level 0.4 space requires 4.0 corporation standing towards the system Sovereign.
o Security level 0.5 space requires 5.0 corporation standing towards the system Sovereign.
o Security level 0.6 space requires 6.0 corporation standing towards the system Sovereign.
o Security level 0.7 space requires 7.0 corporation standing towards the system Sovereign.
o Starbase structures may not be anchored in 0.8 space or higher. No changes have been made to anchoring starbase structures in 0.3 or lower space.
In addition, a 'Starbase Charter' must be purchased from the system Sovereign. Starbase Charters must be on hand for the following:
o To anchor a Control Tower in 0.4 to 0.7 space, and
o One Starbase Charter must be loaded into the Control Tower for every hour it is online. If no Charters are available during the Control Tower consumption cycle, the Control Tower will enter an offline state.
* Using the 'Set Password' control tower context menu option no longer resets other options.
* 'Control tower anchored' notification eve-mails are sent as intended.
* The range limitation to open the Control Tower management interface has been removed from the context menu.
* The Control Tower management interface now displays shield and armor status.
* The progress bar displayed in the control tower management screen no longer overlaps text when bringing a POS array online.
* Starbase access roles have been increased. Now the owner of a starbase can choose to allow access to ship maintenance bays and other services.
* Structures now have a higher signature radius so they will be easier to target and will take more damage.
* It is now possible to partially load and unload sentry guns requiring ammunition.
* Large Beam Laser Sentry requires Anchoring 1 like all other structures.
* Broker fees from using markets in player owned stations and outposts should now be paid to the owner.
* It will not be possible to use POS shields to protect oneself from a CONCORD response after committing an act that results in a criminal flag.

Market and Manufacturing

* Lab and Factory Slots have been removed in favor of “Assembly Lines”. Slots no longer need to be rented as a manufacturer can simple queue up a job on an “Assembly Line” regardless if the line is free or still has time remaining on a previous job. All current jobs in rented slots are have been ejected.
* The new “Science and Industry” window is accessible in space from the Neocom. This window lists current jobs, blueprints and available installations. The old buttons in station that opened up Lab and Factory Slots has been replaced with a button that opens the new “Science and Industry” window.
* The “Jobs” tab of the Science and Industry window shows current and past jobs and allows for filtering and sorting of jobs. Jobs are now able to be remotely administrated from the jobs window. Remote administration range is based on two new skills; “Supply Chain Management” and “Scientific Networking”.
* The “Blueprints” and “Corp Blueprints” tabs show all of the players’ currently available blueprints that their skills allow them to manipulate. Jobs can be started by right-clicking the blueprint and selecting the desired option.
* The “Installations” lists all available installations and allows for filtering and sorting. Jobs can be started by selecting an assembly line in the lower half of the “Installations” tab and clicking the “Install Job” button.
* Many new Starbase structures have been added to allow manufacturing and research to take place at bases around moons in systems with security up to 0.7.
* Corporation members with the 'Trader' role who sell corporation items will no longer receive the proceeds of the sale in their personal wallets. The ISK from the sale will automatically deposit into the corporation wallet.
* You should now see the name of traders associated with market transactions made in the name of the corporation in the corporation wallet.
* Players with role 'Accountant' should be able to see all active market orders issued in the name of the corporation. However, they are not able to cancel or modify them.
* You should now be able to sell items when you have the 'Trader' role.
* Closing the confirmation window resulting from an attempt to sell an item no longer sells the item.
* The Market browse tree no longer collapses after purchasing an item from it. For example, if a skill in the Gunnery category is purchased, the tree no longer collapses.
* Ship blueprints installed into a factory display the proper icon, not just a blue square.
* Command Processor I Blueprint added to the market.
* Revelation BP copy times have been corrected.
* Vespa II and Valkyrie II drones did not require Morphite to produce.
* New ship classes: "Carrier", "Titan" and "Interplanetary Fighter Drones" can now be bought of the market in the form of blueprints. The fighter drones are only usable with the new "Carrier" ship class.
* A new module has hit the market; the module is called "Interdiction Sphere Launcher" which allows usage of "Warp Disrupt Probes". The module can only be used by Tech II Destroyer class called "Interdictors".
* New defensive skills are available on the market. These skills improve the resistances given by passive defensive modules, and give a small passive resistance bonus for activation modules while they are not activated.
* Due to the changes made to the Research & Manufacturing system, the build costs of some tech level 2 blueprints have changed. The changes are small and mainly related to efficiency calculations.

UI, Graphics & Visual Additions, Changes and Fixes

* Advanced Camera Options, 'Set as Parent' and 'Set as Interest' can now be enabled via the ESC menu option 'Enable Advanced Camera Options' checkbox. Please note that these options are not useful for general game play.
* "Remove from Buddylist" makes a return to the UI after a long absence.
* Using the delete key when entering user name or password at the log-in screen works properly.
* Pressing Alt + Enter when docked, with the station environment disabled, no longer makes your active ship disappear.
* Using Control+V to paste items into the IGB works as intended.
* Chat text justifies to the top of character portraits in EVE chat, instead of at the bottom.
* A slider has been added that will affect small size font width.
* Using Control + Left Click to target will also halt target lock if used a second time on the same target.
* All NPC Overview icons display according to ship class, i.e. Cruiser, Battleship, etc.
* Booster effects display for all ships.
* Criminal flagging displays have been added.
* Sentry Guns now explode when destroyed.
* Brackets will not display around Large Collidable Structures unless the LCS is moused over.
* The Overview no longer jumps if a selected item disappears via warping, destruction, docking, etc.
* Scrolling through the Moon Mining interface no longer generates an error.
* Client-side lag caused by opening the Log no longer occurs.
* Double clicking the empty area of the Repair Shop no longer generates an error.
* Entering non-existent dates into the Wallet Journal tab will no longer hang the client.
* Initiating a stargate jump outside of the maximum activation range will result in a pop-up window informing how close to the stargate you have to travel to initiate the jump.
* Standings transactions display properly in the hover text and in the transactions log.
* Recycle option has been removed from the right click menu belonging to the active docked ship.
* Searching for corporation members in the 'All Hangars' list will display all names in order, regardless of the capitalization (or lack thereof) of the member's names.
* After completing a mission and talking to the agent, the Journal and People & Places information will update faster.
* The Augmentation Character Sheet tab displays implant slots.
* 'Show Info' on a landmark displays an icon in addition to text about the landmark.
* 'Show Info' on an item now features a new 'Variations' tab which shows all Meta-types of that module.
* The attribute tab now features a ships’ structure hit points to cope with the changed behavior of “Damage Control Units”.
* Right click context menus can be accessed when a pilot is not on board a ship.

Typographical Fixes

* A number of text alignment issues (overlapping text, missing or occluded text, etc.) have been resolved.
* A number of window scaling and resizing issues (text boxes incorrectly located or sized) have been resolved.
* A number of menu handling optimizations have been made. Right click menus should appear and respond to player input faster.
* All entity and description errors reported for dead space complexes have been resolved.
* World Map Control Panel option "Try to avoid pod killing zones" has been changed to "Avoid systems where pod killing has recently occurred." and the selection box is no longer checked as a default. Instead, a pop-up window warning of longer travel times displays with a verification query.
* A typographical error in the 'Azure Canyon' mission briefing has been fixed.
* Typographical errors in the following ECM module descriptions have been fixed: FZ-3 Subversive Spatial Destabilizer, FZ-3a Disruptive Spatial Destabilizer, CZ-4 Concussive Spatial Destabilizer and BZ-5 Neutralizing Spatial Destabilizer.
* Typographical error in the Information Warfare Mindlink description has been fixed.
* 'Reprocess' is replacing 'Recycle' in the Reprocess plant menus and tool tips.
* Description changes and fixes have been made to the following skills: Controlled Bursts, Electronic Warfare, Long Distance Jamming, Propulsion Jamming, Sensor Linking, Target Painting, Weapon Disruption, Energy Emission Systems, Shield Emission Systems, Shield Management, Sharpshooter, Motion Prediction, Remote Armor Repair Systems, Repair Systems, Missile Bombardment, Navigation, Fuel Conservation, Evasive Maneuvering, Advanced Spaceship Command and Spaceship Command.

Server Changes and Optimizations

* A number of server side optimizations have been made in an effort to decrease lag, reduce start-up time and improve cluster management.
* Addition of code for a 'Server Shutdown Timer". This Timer will count down the time remaining before a shutdown of the server. This feature will be added after the deployment of Red Moon Rising.
* Testing of Dual CPU Opteron and Xeon server blades has commenced, as well as testing of 32 and 64 bit Server Operating Systems. This is an attempt to determine the optimal hardware and OS combination for future deployment.

Miscellaneous

* Characters being transferred through the Character transfer service cannot be transferred while a member of a player corporation.
* In an effort to curb Trial account abuse, Trial accounts are no longer able to donate ISK to other accounts, nor create courier or escrow contracts. Trial accounts will be able to receive ISK from other accounts.
* On freshly installed clients, EVE will start in Full Screen. Changing settings via the ESC menu will override this default setting.
* The Introduction video will run only after a major game update is deployed, not smaller patches.
* Agent generated bookmarks no longer duplicate themselves in People & Places.
* Due to Unicode changes, a maximum character limit of 3,500 characters has been added to killmails. This is to prevent errors and lack of receipt of a killmail when a mails length exceeded the limit.
* Account and character security have been improved.
* Client side bookmark handling has been changed when right clicking in-space. The menu should appear much faster.
* Jumping or docking while reloading charges should no longer consume the charges, nor should firing the weapon during loading.

[Abalieno]

I was planning to start a new character with the new bloodlines...

I'll have to wait January.

[Itzena]

Yeah, that is mildly disappointing but at least my Punisher got a nice upgrade.

Edit: The size comparison chart has had the titans/motherships/carriers added to it.

[kasey]

How is the game?

I used to play Frontier Elite II on the amiga and this sounds quite funny.

[Zaptruder]

I too am hot for Frontier and its progressively generated awesomeness...

what's this like? How's the combat? You don't acutally fly the ships yourself do you?

[Suineg]

You fly everything but in 3rd person not talking cockpit style.

And I would say more point and click for any kind of long fligths but you still do a lot of manuevering when not point and clicking around the galaxy.

A lot of mining and trading of resources to be done. I will let someone else explain the skills system. Involves a lot of queuing skills to train and then just logging on to queue another one up.

[Abalieno]

Eve is a very slow game and you can pass a lot of time in autopilot while you travel from system to system. Many players just don't tolerate this pace. But then it's also unique and deep beyond every other game.

Recently I was in awe for this flash tutorial explaining how the turrets work in combat. Even if you aren't planning to play this game just read it from the first to the last page. It's truly fascinating and it gives you an idea of what type of game Eve is.

[wamphyr]

Eve Online. It is NOT everyone's cup of tea.
But be damned f i touch that game until they realease a new server where everyone must start anew.

[kaid]

What I want to know is how the hell do you fly one of those ginormous mother ships or titans in third person view. How in the fuck do you see anything past your ship? Then again they are probably so well armed that if you burp you incinerate most things near you.

[Arbuste]

I only played for maybe 2 or 3 hours, doing mainly the Tutorial.
I was not thrilled.
The game is extremely slow-paced. You spend a lot of time in auto-pilot watching space around you. Then, you auto-attack an asteroid. It lasts between 1 and 3 minutes, firing lasers on it and periodically gathering (automatically and without moving) the minerals. Then you target another, fly to it and start again.
Then, you fight Pirates. Auto-target, auto-pilot, auto-attack. You don't do a lot of damage and the fight lasts forever (several minutes watching its HP going down slowly.) Those Tutorial Pirates can't really hurt you. Your ship can have special equipments that replace combat skills (like Shield Booster and I suppose Missiles.)
While you are doing that, your skill go up automatically and without any link to what you are actually doing. You choose a skill in a list, it tells you how many (RL) hours or days (from 1h to 1d12h+) it takes and then you wait. Or mine stuff. Or log out, skills go up whether your online or not.

The game is also extremely complex. Or complicated. Could be a good thing if the game was exciting, fun or even interesting but I couldn't put in the effort. Crafting is pretty big apparently. Then you can probably trade, or hunt Pirates down. Given the Bounty, it looked like it would almost be possible to not focus totally on Mining. Only, Fighting is not anymore fun.

Elite 2/3 were complex but at the same time extremely simple and intuitive. And Combat was pretty fun too. It's not the same in Eve. Now, I could feel it had some potential. Maybe Combat becomes strategically interesting when you get a better ship and skills? Maybe. I'm not grinding shit for 6 months before I can have any fun though. If you have a lot of time on your hands, and a very high tolerance to grinding...

I'm an Elite / Frontier fan, and I was very disappointed. (I'd rather play X3: Reunion. And I couldn't get totally into that either. It's no Elite.)

Edit:

But be damned f i touch that game until they realease a new server where everyone must start anew.

That, too.

[Mkopec1]

I spent about a week on this game.

and although its a fascinating concept, I guess you have to be into that sort of thing, but for me it was a yawn fest.

I did the mission things for money, hauling cargo around and shit, did some mining, upgraded my my puny capsule of a ship to a bigger capsule. /yawn

Very slow paced and most of the time your just watching yourself jump from place to place over and over again.

But it is a deep game with alot of things to learn, the week that I spent in the game didnt even hardly scratch the surface of the game.

[Utnayan]

I loved the atmosphere in Eve Online. The company behind it is very solid, and they have made some awesome improvements. All in all though, after a while it gets just plain boring. I found myself playing my Gameboy DS while mining, or AFK a lot of the times to get money. The community and the PvP is what makes this game fun, so if you can get some help to get right into that and just train skills, you should give it a shot.

[Cad]

My brother played EVE before WoW came out. I played EVE in like the alpha, when the only thing you could do was leave the one system and mine, and come back. I didn't ever play it in retail.

But all I ever saw my brother doing was warping from place to place. Anytime I'd walk by and look at his screen, his ship was on autopilot in windowed mode and he was reading some website in a browser beside the game screen while eating. Literally, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I think one time I saw him actually inside a space station or whatever.

It would be like if you watched someone play WoW and every time you looked they were on a gryphon.

He swears up and down that it's a fun game, very deep, tons to do.. but the pacing is just unbelievably slow.

[frott]

They solve the level/skill gap by requiring smaller ships (ie, lower level) alongside the bigger, or to take out the bigger.

Correct me if not apt, but it would be the same as a group of level 5 characters being able to kill a level 60 more efficiently than higher level chars. Essentially, higher levels unlock options moreso than power or skill. Been forever since I've played, but essentially imagine a lev 1 being a fighter. Destroyers can't do shit against the fighters because they're too fast, but a bunch of fighters can do a considerable amount of damage to a destroyer.

The link to the turret system exemplifies that... smaller faster ships are not easily trackable by the larger.

It is also so huge that it is rather easy to remain anonymous, so the corporations and politics aren't entirely impossible to avoid... regardless, it still smacks of "if you haven't been playing for months you're way fucking behind."

[Dynalisia]

If you play largely for ePeen (not meant bad, I know I do) then starting EVE now with the intention of becoming a bigshot will seriously hurt it. Having friends in high places will make it a bit less serious, but you're still going to be the bouncing junior for a long long time.