This is a very simple question and would like some serious responses from the gaming community at large - but most from non-EVE players. 

What is it, or was it, about the game of EVE that keeps you from playing the game?

TAG

I enjoyed EVE for a while. I actually liked the various intricacies at first and managed to find a corp with some great people.

What ultimately did it in for me was the sheer amount of time it took to do anything aswell as the vast amount of things i had to jam into my head to be any good. Sure running a couple of missions or something doesn't take too long, but it doesn't feel like you're getting anywhere very fast. Progression feels slow.

The amount of time i spent ingame aswell as on various wikis & guides and building ship layouts was excessive, and then ofcourse there was having to spend half my saturday on a corp mining op.

The skill system which i liked overall also eventually leaves you planning for things a month+ ahead of the time, it's all gotta be so carefully considered.

I think it was all a little too "hardcore" for my taste ;p

I imagine most newcomers are scared away by the complexity, aswell as the sense of having nothing to do that comes with adjusting to a game that doesn't hold your hand and points you in the right direction, it just kinda throws you out and lets you do what you want. Getting used to that is quite hard coming from your average "theme park" mmos.

A great game, but not something which i can, for practical reasons, devote myself to properly.

I liked EVE also for about two months when I first played about 7 months ago. It was cool at first, I liked the learning curve as there is a lot to learn at first. But as time progressed you begin to realize one of the big faults in the game (i'm sure some people will not take it like that) 

- #1 reason I quit is how skills are learned, it is pure and simple time. If you've played the game then you know, if not basically you learn a skill by clicking on it and hit "learn" deeper into the game some skills take literally weeks to learn. At this point I realized as a newb I will literally NEVER be able to catch up to the people who have been playing the game for 3+ 4+ 5+ years NEVER!

still its a cool game probably the most original mmo i've played. but still the way the skill system works you're shit out of luck as a new player. 

I used to play. I had a lot of fun too.

But really it was the time it took to play.

The complexity didn't really scare me. I like complex games and I like games where if I get good at one thing I know there is still a lot that I don't know and have to work hard at learning.

What was frustrating for me was the time it took to play and time it took to become effective in a role. I got myself into a corp early and had a lot of fun with them and solo. The issue was that I wanted to play a certain style that really was meant for larger corp ops and specialized roles. I wanted to go for stealth and interdictors. The issue was I didnt fully realize the time it would take as well as how worthless it is solo and how much it hindered my progression since I was not going for larger boats.

Once I started to get bigger ships it got better much faster, but I didnt like the time it took. I could seriously spend 10-15 min traveling to a certain place if I sat there and actively worked the instas or I would go take a nap and 45 min later I would be arriving.

The two biggest issues for me were the avatars and and controls.  I don't like my avatar being a ship, and while normally I would consider such an issue superficial, combine it with the controls for travelling and combat, and it's something that just doesn't jive with me.  That being said, I do think EVE is one of the best MMOs out there, hands down; it just simply isn't my cup of tea.

 Yep, I have subed on and off to the game for the last few years in week to month long spurts. I left because progression felt to slow, my ingame time didn't seem to affect my progression and I typically play Mmos for the progression. I think it goes without saying I am not a fan of the universal real world time sinks to level skills, its wonderful for when you log off or take a weekend break. Perhaps a Hybrid model should be explored? I also have always found any Mmo where people ethier A. Watch T.V while playing or B. Play another game while playing ... a waste of time.

I can tell you why I didn't play after the first 5 or so times I made attepts to like the game.

I had always signed up for a trial just after leaving another game. . the reason to leave the first game was burnout or something else negative.  So going into EVE in a bad mindframe is not going to be succesful.

I tried it again and can see the problem the earlier posters are speaking of.  I am looking forward to joining an corp etc. . but will I have the time. . to do the things that make EVE great?  As a casual player I am not frustrated (yet) but the controlled pace or learning skills as I am figureing things out just about as fast as I am getting into new ships etc.

So far I am a month in and enjoying it very much.  People that can play more than I can, and are used to other games where time invested = more skills, could easily be frustrated. . for me. . it works. . but will it in a month or two when I am looking at a 1 year plan for skills?  Not sure.

Just an aside. . the amount of things to learn at first can seem overwhelming but it is that depth that has kept me playing so far.

Excel bores me.

Everytime I hear about EVE, it's always someone QQ'ing about douchebags.

Too much group-up and zerg the weaklings.

Too much need to rely on allies to save your butt.

All prejudices, but enough strong to keep me away from the game.

The real time skill training part.
I really don't like that it favors those who started playing in 2003 and that there is no way to catch up. Lots of Eve players say this is silly to complain about this, but that's just how it is for me.

However, even though I'm not playing, I've still been paying a monthly sub and only training skills (no undock) for about 3 years now, as a reward to CCP for providing the gaming community with this great samdbox and also in case I ever play it again.

the ui was was obtrusive.

the controls were buried in muck.

to much traveling  for my liking

The PVE was lacking/boring

Actually, I loved EVE while I was there. I only quit for two reasons. First was that my friends wanted to play a different MMO. Second, and this factored into why my friends left, was that CCP was slow to act upon the projects they were hyping. A number of my friends were looking forward to "walking in stations" which has been a long time in coming and still is not here. Anyway, I was the last to leave and would not if I still had people playing that I knew.

I guess its the combat. I did play for quite a while due to the draw of the many ways you can play, but no WASD and the more mathematical than visceral combat was never my thing.

The combat, the (dated) controls and the poor community put me off.  Also the game is just one constant time sink.

active player and my only complaint is the only time I lag is when my ship is screaming "get me out of here" when i really really wish I didn't. :)

I found the controls and UI to be terrible.  I could hardly read the text due to its small size and coloring.  I realize this game is amazing to a lot of people so I am not saying it sucks or anything like that.  I just couldn't get past those 2 initial barriers though.

For me, it was sheer boredom.

I've downloaded and played the full trial three times now, and every time I get to a point where I stop actually caring about playing the game, but rather log in soley to check in on skill queues. For someone just starting, the amount of information to absorb is overwhelming, or at least I felt that way. I'm also a huge fan of sandbox games, so this has been something I keep thinking back about, that maybe I'm missing some grand, amazing experience offered by EVE that I just don't understand, or never really clicked with. The sad fact is that I want to love this game. The art direction, the ambient music, the lore of the universe itself is all very interesting to me, and I think it's a great setting for a Sci-Fi game, especially as a nerd of all things related to the cosmos. I guess the parts I really disliked where the combat missions and mining, the orbitting around ships and turning on my guns, waiting for the target to die, and spending upwards of minutes to actually reach their cargo for looting. I've heard the combat gets better, and is far more than just orbitting objects with weapons on, but I have yet to see any of that. Beyond those two things, I don't even know what else there is to do in the EVE 'verse. The game doesn't really do a great job of explaining the options, other than trading, mining, and combat. Maybe that's all there is, but these things coupled with the amount of time I've seen quoted to actually build a combat capable character, and I'm looking at months of investment to actually get to the fun. I suppose another large proponent is not having any friends who are established players, to help answer questions and guide my experience a bit so I don't feel as lost and clueless. I hear being a part of an active guild makes a big difference, but again, I've never experienced this. Really, it was worth the time I spent on each of the trials, because I love the atmosphere and the environments are rather beautiful, I just find the actual gameplay to be mind numbingly slow and uninteresting.

I tried it a number of times, but each time only lasted a week or so.

This is what I didn't like:

1) skills appeared to train in real time, which I thought would be great, but just meant I would never catch up those who had played for longer than me.

2) It appeared (and I may be wrong) that the only things to do in the game were either a) Mine b) be some sort of pirate (which didn't work as everyone had more skills) or c) buy/sell and transport.

I chose c) - buy/sell and transport. I would buy something, then spend the best part of an hour travelling, then buy something else, and spend another hour travelling, ad infinitum. Except when I was attacked by a player with a massive ship who would destroy everything I had spent the week working on, and I would have to start again.

I kept going back, as I kept thinking it should be amazing, and I should be loving it. But each time I did, within a week, I would grow very bored and / or fustrated and leave. I know its a great game, once you have a good group of friends to play with, but as a new player on your own, it felt almost impossible to get into. Which I am sure is more a lack of attention span on my part, than a fault of the game.

1- PVE was repetitive and dull.

2- The skill training system ensured I would never catch up to players who had more seniority in game.

3- Making enough money to adequately move into the battleship tier felt like a second job.

4- The minerals market is/was controlled by botters.