Eve Online

Eve Online is a complex, space-based, and vast free-to-play MMORPG developed by CCP Games. It was created in 2003 and has received countless updates throughout more than 17 years of space exploration and now has an ever-expanding player base. It is filled with loyal players who have been destroying other faction players and galaxies since the beginning but also new beginner players who are on the verge of conquering their first enemy base. You play from a type of third-person view over a certain section of the map, and you can zoom in and out. The game style is PvE but also PvP with multiple armies against other armies.

The game has a TEEN rating, which means that people of the age of and above 13 can play this game, but it might be less suitable for a younger audience. This is because violence happens in this game; players shoot and blow each other up. Luckily there is no gore or blood because only ships are being blown up, not the characters itself.

These players are able to choose between multiple different factions, regions, and races to play as - each with their own unique skill set and roles. There are many things to choose from, and in some cases, a little bit too much. The learning curve for this game is massive. There are countless things to do and to learn, and it will take more than a couple of hours to learn all the basics. Keep in mind that some players have been playing this game for over a decade and already know every single little detail about the game. Nevertheless, this is a game worth trying for people who love massive MMORPGs.

The storyline of Eve Online is extensive; you’re able to participate in massive race wars or overthrow an emerging dangerous government. The deep and complex story begins thousands of years in the past in the New Eden Star cluster when humans burned out the earth and decided to start space exploration. They saw and conquered many new planets and formed megacorporations, which amassed massive amounts of power over the decades. As a result of megacorporations having too much power, stargate decided to start a wage war, and then they founded the EVE Gate, a wormhole in colonized space leading to a cluster. This is the beginning of a story that could be written over multiple pages and last thousands and thousands of years. The real story starts when the new New Eden begins and from there onwards. A capsuleer can be an explorer, a mission runner, a miner, a suicide ganker, a pirate, a hauler, a scam artist, a fighter, an industrialist, a CEO, or any other profession Eve Online offers. It is where the era of the capsuleer begins. This is truly a game like no other.

QUALITY

The game design is amazing, the look and feel of the game make you think like you are actually in space, which is really great. They provide the most interesting information on the left and at the bottom of your screen, where you’ll find crucial specifics related to how your ship is doing, such as fuel and damage it has received and ammo. One aspect that is quite difficult for beginning players is that there is often too much on your screen. There are so many things to look at and not forget that it sometimes gets a bit overwhelming when you are just starting out. There are multiple positive reviews written, someone who played for hundreds of hours posted: “Almost 300 hours in, and I still have no idea what I’m doing”. It just proves how amazing and vast Eve Online is. Players have been playing for more than a decade, so catching up with them is going to take a long but surely exciting time. Some people compare this game to the Star Wars universe but then without Jedi or clones, and you live in it.

The graphics are very well adjusted to today’s standards. When the game was first released, it had a completely different look and feel. Over the course of many years, developers made many changes, and now it is almost unrecognizable to the old version. The soundtrack of the game has a ton of fans. The album has been posted on Spotify and has so far received more than a million streams alone.

The game starts off with you designing your own character or “capsuleer” you get a totally free range of how yours will look and what race, faction it belongs together with the skill set. Your character is not that important; what is important is your spaceship. Ships are the key feature of the game and will affect how you play the game the most. Choose between more than 350 different kinds of spaceships divided between the four factions (this returns back to the storyline), this mostly determines how they look and operate in terms of weapons and defense.

For example, the Gallente federation has ships that feature an asymmetrical look, are unique and special but could also cause some frustration amongst certain players. In contrast, other ships from different factions that are symmetrical are easier to spot. They specialize in fighting with drones from a distance and with hybrid weapons up close. Other factions such as the Caldari love missiles and hybrid weapons, but as a defense, they prefer to use shields. Players can model and adapt their ships with different fits. It is advised to new players to use previous players fits because building your own can take a lot of time and can be very complicated.

This just proves how much time has been invested in making this game over the last decade and more and how intricate and complicated some of the aspects are. You need to keep in mind the advantages and disadvantages of some factions and then make your decision and overall think about so many things at once. Even though there are many things to think about, this game is still a lot of fun to play.

Another key feature of the game is the skill set feature. This is where players can optimize, upgrade, and change their character. If a certain character does better in a specific field, then the ship will also be more advanced in this field. It can result in very amazing combinations with strong outcomes.

REQUIREMENTS AND COST

Eve Online game functions quite perfectly with both Windows and Mac operating systems. However, there are some bare minimum standards to which devices of both systems ought to meet in order for the game to function fully.

Must-have hardware qualities:

• The operating system and the CPU must be at least 64 bit.
• Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) with 256MB VRAM or more, supports Shader Model 3 and also supports DirectX 9.0c.
• Audio i.e. DirectSound compatible and supports SSE.
• Network: ADSL connection or faster.
• Drivers: Direct x 9.0c.
• DVD-ROM: 2x-speed DVD reader (for boxed editions only).

Eve Online works with a minimum screen resolution of 1024x768. It is always advisable to use the latest available drivers in all video and audio hardware.

For setting minimum requirements, it is expected that game features function in low-end hardware, which still complies with the requirements. The main reason for the recommended system settings requirement is that the game functions at its maximum best with great visual and audio qualities. The resolution for the recommended requirements is 1920x1200.

Looking at the cost of the game and payment models, Eve Online has a free trial mode with also the probability of users to subscribe to different content stages at different prices. The minimum subscription price ranges from 14.99 dollars. Eve Online also has a cost for different contents in display online, which aids players to by-pass levels and stages of the game.

Eve Online has an in-game economy that is player-driven. There are characters that are known as non-player characters (NPC) that trade books with skills that enable players to learn new blueprints and to advance in modules. NPCs also trade goods. NPC characters provide insights on components used to build ships and modules by players. There is an in-game currency being used called the Interstellar Kredits. This currency corresponds to the code of Icelandic Krona used nationwide. Estimating the cost for Eve Online entities in real-life currency is not that easy. However, for example, one of the strongest ships in the game (fleet-ready titan) has an estimated value of $7,600.

CONCLUSION

Eve Online features its own economic system, which is just amazing and works surprisingly well because of the vast and growing player base. Pair this with an intergalactic space race to become the biggest and best player in the faction. In conclusion, the game is fantastic, the only bad thing to mention is the massive learning curve, but this goes away after a couple of gaming hours. We expect to see even bigger and better updates in the coming years. In case you decide to try this fantastic game, good luck with your future adventures in new New Eden, capsuleer!

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