I decided to download VO out of sheer boredom and the fact that the client is so small (around 150Mb), but to my absolute shock the game is extremely polished, easy-to-use and downright addictive. Looking at the player stats on the website, only around 36 people are online. I wonder why such a great game is being looked over when it's providing what many people think Eve is lacking - manual ship control. Actually finding and flying into a docking station feels so much more immersive.  

The game is probably so under-rated due in part to the small development team that has been tweaking everything to make the game as perfect as possible for larger userbases (scalability has been increased a ton even though there is no real lag anyways), better graphics, better gameplay mechanics, and etc.

With the game nearing 2.0 more and more people will be joining it as the game becomes more dynamic with every update.

7.85 is actually not that bad a rating when you consider that even WoW only gets a 7.9 by the same criteria and that the highest rating for a released game on this site is an (probably inflated) 8.5.

Even so, I do agree the rating is low because it doesn't reflect the constant progress the game makes on an almost weekly basis. If the ratings are based on an average than the older data is going to weight the rating negatively for the forseeable future.

I mean by the number of people playing and talking about it. But looking at the rating you'll notice how few people have voted as opposed to games such as WoW, which is probably why its rating is so high (though I think it deserves it).

The developers were mainly waiting before having a push for advertising but I believe they are now starting to do so with the trial keys, etc.

All space sims suffer from low player counts.

They require too much skill for the average gamer.

Eve has a decent playerbase because it is a no skill point and click game that can be played while doing multiple other things.

Space is a big lonely place and space games that require skill exemplify that all too well.

With that said, Vendetta is a very decent game if you like to fly space ships (Joystick is well supported).

 What the heck, I'll give it a shot. With the trial up I'm not exactly losing anything. To answer your question though, I think a big part of it is that

A: Jumpgate is stealing their thunder

With a previously established game, and a larger team and some relatively decent advertising/graphics, they're getting most of the attention

B: Indie MMOs are scary

What if the game folds within a few days/months? Where's the oversight? Is anyone else actually going to sub? The website itself is very basic, which is fine since it's functional, but underdeveloped web sites have taken on a "should I really trust them with my money" feel, and then theres the obvious question of "exactly how much can just four people do?" 

Just about finished downloading the client, but that there would likely be your problem. Personally, I know I'll immidiately enjoy it more than Eve if it has even a fraction less spreadsheets -_-. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about Eve, from the lore to the ship design to just about everything, except the whole package still seems to become so incredibly dull and I don't understand it. The only thing I can figure is that I don't like playing the economic bent to it, and honestly, theres a ton of economics behind just a little bit of pew pew. In summation, I miss earth and beyond )=

edit: And another thought hit me. Equipment. Lets face it, when was the last time you had an excuse to break out the joystick? Yeah, not all that recently. Hell, the last game I can think of was Dark Star One and even that had a bit of a gap before it. Many of the current iterations of joysticks flat out suck. I personally still have my old MS sidewinder, but the game port to plug it in is now lacking, and there isn't much motivation to get a USB adapter for it.

I was amazed that the game was made by 4 people. It's smooth and bugfree. UI could use some tweaking but compared to the state in which MMOs made by companies with 300 employes are launched it's awesome.

And i'm not even getting started on the PvP system, combat mechanics, atmosphere etc etc cause i'm going back to play. This MMO needs more publicity.

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Originally posted by Kordesh
 What the heck, I'll give it a shot. With the trial up I'm not exactly losing anything. To answer your question though, I think a big part of it is that
A: Jumpgate is stealing their thunder
With a previously established game, and a larger team and some relatively decent advertising/graphics, they're getting most of the attention
 
B: Indie MMOs are scary
What if the game folds within a few days/months? Where's the oversight? Is anyone else actually going to sub? The website itself is very basic, which is fine since it's functional, but underdeveloped web sites have taken on a "should I really trust them with my money" feel, and then theres the obvious question of "exactly how much can just four people do?" 
Just about finished downloading the client, but that there would likely be your problem. Personally, I know I'll immidiately enjoy it more than Eve if it has even a fraction less spreadsheets -_-. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about Eve, from the lore to the ship design to just about everything, except the whole package still seems to become so incredibly dull and I don't understand it. The only thing I can figure is that I don't like playing the economic bent to it, and honestly, theres a ton of economics behind just a little bit of pew pew. In summation, I miss earth and beyond )=
 
edit: And another thought hit me. Equipment. Lets face it, when was the last time you had an excuse to break out the joystick? Yeah, not all that recently. Hell, the last game I can think of was Dark Star One and even that had a bit of a gap before it. Many of the current iterations of joysticks flat out suck. I personally still have my old MS sidewinder, but the game port to plug it in is now lacking, and there isn't much motivation to get a USB adapter for it.

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Well, VO has actually been around for years now. It's not going anywhere.

The only real fault that VO has right now, is that a beginning player may not see depth in the areas he/she might be used to seeing it.

What I mean to say is...VO has depth, but it is focused on the community, in factions, combat, and the intricate nature of resource use.

A new player will be looking for "quests", for crafting, for player-owned stations (which are actually in the works) and may not see the hidden complexity that the game holds.

Plus, VO is REALLY a PVP game...those who join seeking to become full time PVE players will quickly become bored, and lose interest. PVE is a necessary evil in this game, to access better equipment and increase faction standings...but it's something you do while being hunted by pirates, and while under the protection of hired escorts, and the like. It's is simply a frame-work for PVP.

Controll-wise, many of the best players actually use mouse + key. The system actually works quite well. Some people are even using Xbox 360 controllers.

The game is really well coded, and I have personally tried several different control schemes, never becoming frustrated because something couldn't be bound, or inverted, or wasn't detected. I settled on a combination of stick and track-ball, which works very well for dodging enemy fire while keeping them squarely in my sights.

Ok...enough writing about it...Imma go play now.