EVE Online

In light of all the complaint posts that have been popping out of the wood work lately, I felt someone needed to weigh in on the other side with a "fanboi" post about why we enjoy EVE.

First and foremost, the PvP.  PvP in EVE is intense and strategic.  Losses are real - your ship is gone and it ain't comin' back; time to buy a new one.  This gives meaning to EVE PvP because you can actually hurt your opponent - he won't just get rezzed or respawned with no real loss.  In addition, tactics and strategy matter greatly in EVE PvP.  Players devise strategies to sucker their opponents into a fight, prepare traps, and provide misinformation.  During the actual fight, proper maneuvering, ship fitting, module use, and focused fire are the keys to victory.

Moreover, PvP isn't limited to combat.  Players build most of the ships and modules in EVE, and market competition is fierce; EVE has a powerful economic system, which is the perfect backdrop for price wars, cornering the market, and the like.

Secondly, EVE's skill system is time-based; this makes EVE very friendly to the casual gamer and those who can't be on 24/7.  (Side note: the other portion of advancement in the game involves getting the cash to buy ships and the modules to fit them with - some ships are very, very expensive.)  Despite misconceptions to the contrary, you don't need to play for years to have the skills to equal and older player; if you specialize your skills in one or two areas, you can become competitive very quickly.  The main thing that older players have is diversity, which leads to the next topic....

Thirdly: diversity.  EVE is diverse in many different areas.  The player-base comes from all over the world; my corp alone has players from the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Australia, and right now we're fighting Red Alliance, who are predominately Russian.  Also, EVE has many different careers that players can work towards, and you're never boxed into any of them (given sufficient time, anyone can train any skill).  Some people are PvPers, others are mission runners, still others mine and craft, some trade, some NPC, and some are even politicians (most do a mix of different "professions").  As if that weren't enough, there are literally hundreds of different ship types and thousands of different modules that players can use, meaning it's rare to see two people with the exact same ship and setup.

Finally, and most imporantly, EVE is very much player-centric.  The game has mechanics to form large alliances of corporations (guilds), and those alliances can lay official claim to sovereignty over entire star systems.  This leads to players taking over entire regions of space, and doing it with full support from the game mechanics.  This also leads to players contesting that claim of ownership - a contention that can lead to massive wars involving many thousands of players.  One week one alliance will have control over a given star system and all of the attendant infrastructure that goes along with it (stations, etc.), and the next week another alliance will hold it after a successful attack (laying claim to a star system involves a lot more than combat - logistics play huge role, as you must deploy starbases to hold territory, and must also continuously provide fuel to keep them running).

In any case, those are the reasons that I, personally, enjoy EVE.  Your mileage may vary.

The problem with EVE (if it can be called a problem) is that it's not for everyone.  Most of these people come from don't-make-me-think games like WoW or the laters version of SWG.  EVE requires an attention span bigger than 10 seconds, and that's why so many people quit after the trial. 

I don't consider myself an EVE fanboi, since there are some aspects of the game that I don't like (gate-camping), but in general is a deep, engrossing game, and that's presicely what I was looking for.

The reasons I like EVE better than anyother MMORPG (or computer game for that matter) are,

1: A skill system that allows me to have a life and a skilled char.

2: A PvP system that is really decent and not a consensual duel system with little or no penalties for death/risk. True PvP in other words.

3: You can truely attain power and notoriety in the EVE universe, wether through being part of a tyrannical alliance that conquers space, a lone wolf pilot that preys upon others, a rich trader that knows all the routes, a manufacturer with all the Tech 2 blue prints at his/her disposal. Whereas in other games I've played power = "look at my level and run peeing your pants you 3 day old noob, muah hah hah I rulz da world u suck ROFLMFAO!!!!!!".

4: CCP are the best games company I've ever had the pleasure to send my cash to. Always polite and sort out my problems, BUGS ARE FIXED FIRST (sorry about the caps but I'm an ex-$WGer) and no lies and broken promises! Also if they screw up (rarely happens though) they admit they're at fault apologise and get to FIXING THE PROBLEMS FIRST (Sorry had an $WG flashback).

I have no problem with people pointing out why they don't like the game, I understand it's not for everyone by a long shot. However the game is well maintained with few (if any) bugs remaining ingame for more than a month. I suppose the biggest plus is having a company (CCP) that actually gives a monkey's backside about the customer. With CCP it's a case of the game comes first because the customer comes first, few other companies have managed that. In short you can say you don't like the system, but please don't say it's broken because it isn't. If you think it's broken I suggest you play SWG for 3 months, it's called a reality check!