lol, I thought it was funny.. thought the people who bought into it were even funnier.

There are corporations made up of thousands of people... Corporations with -military fleets-.  Does anyone really expect a situation like that (even in real life) to go down without trickery, espionage, and backstabbing?

I don't see a single thing wrong with the numbers.  It is an international game, not one with EU servers and US servers.. etc.. So prime times are going to be different depending on where in the world people live.  The 50k+ number they said as their concurrent users is perfectly possible.  If it had 300k users in the US alone, the concurrent users would likely be MUCH higher.  But it's not.. so what's hard to 'square'?

Edit: Also, they even have roughly 2-3k trial accounts active at a time, and -don't- put those numbers in their figures.  I don't see why CCP has given any reason to make people think their numbers are wrong in any way.  It's not like they're spouting -amazing- figures.  Just good ones, and consistent ones.  They've been gaining subscriptions consistently since the game's release.

Originally posted by kishe

Making a space game is easier.

 

1)build giant cube and texture it with stars

2)Add round blobs and texture them as stars and asteroids

3) add stations and wormholes to other giant cubes

4) Add player ships and make them spawn inside giant cubes

 

eves servers only have to handle 1/3 of the items in basic setting than MMOs with actual maps.

 

You can build game like Eve with low budget, you cant build a fantasy sandbox with low budget.

But you're also thinking in terms of graphics, which isn't the same as server latency.  I'm willing to bet WoW has a higher server cap than people think.  (I've heard the number 10,000 get thrown around, but I've heard as low as 5k too).  Now, when you consider how visually impressive the small number of graphics in EVE -are- (just in the past year, the graphics engine was redone from the ground up.. they're still upgrading it as we speak.. the effects and visuals, are stunning), combined with how many people can be in ONE area.  And that is impressive server structure.

Honestly, I would like to see a version of PvP similar to SWG's put into a fantasy sandbox.  I didn't care for the game, but I think it had a fairly solid PvP system:

Overt - Completely PvP enabled, all the time, until you do something in-game to turn it off.  Quest or something..

Covert - Secretly PvP-Enabled, allows you to be incognito and do your things in town without worrying.  If you attack an Overt person, you should turn Overt for a certain amount of time after that.  This lets any other Overt people, or Covert people to attack you (thus turning them Overt)

Non-PvP - As it says.. you just don't PvP until you do a quest which allows you to go Covert or Overt.

Contrary to that though, the developers in EVE state that a VERY small percent of their subscribed player base is in 0.0 space.  I seem to recall the number being somewhere around 10% or less.  Of course, in a large single-server player base, that number is a decent amount of people... but that means that the majority (well over the majority) doesn't even take part in the 'main' PvP portion of the game.

So yes.. PvP is a major feature in EVE, but people automatically assume that they have to PvP when that just isn't true.  And plenty of people NEVER PvP in EVE.  There are people who have played for years, who have probably gotten involved in PvP situations less than 10 times in those several years.

Asheron's Call is a game that I think was a good example of a hybrid of sandbox and theme park that WORKED, and worked WELL.  There was PvE, with the option of FFA PvP on those PvE servers.  There was a decent sized community of PvPers on each server, and that stayed pretty consistent for several years.  I loved going on guild quests while a large group of us were 'red' at the time.. you'd be running from one place to another, and might randomly come across groups of people, or single people.. fights would happen all over the place, and then people would keep doing what they were doing.  It wasn't the -focus- of the game.  The reason it worked, was because the game had PLENTY of PvE content.  And not 'Kill X and bring to Y', but real content.  Lore quests, quests for unique things, collection quests that could last MONTHS. etc..

A truer example would be the PvP server.  I will concede that Darktide didn't have the most mature community.  But its players didn't simply PvP all the time.  They played the game.. guilds would guard dungeons so their members could level in them.  People went on quests, grinded mobs for XP, searched for loot.. etc.. all without regard.  And then, sometimes.. PvP would happen.  Another guild would force the first guild out of the area.. they'd probably fight for a bit, and then things would settle down and the victors could continue doing whatever it is they were doing before-hand.

Now.. that is an environment where EVERYTHING is PvP-enabled.  Even EVE is not 100% PvP.  There is a HUGE area of the game that is high-security space.. and if you stay there, and use the game mechanics smartly, you can avoid PvP 99.99% of the time if you want.

It seems to me you think that FFAPvP means PvP any time, any place.  And in a game like Darkfall, that's mostly true.  But as I said, Darkfall is not a good sandbox without the other features to balance the PvP side.  Your definition of sandbox is simply different than mine.  Hell, Darkfall does so many other things wrong that I don't even like bringing it into this conversation.. because really, it's not a sandbox AT ALL.  It's just a PvP game.  Hands down, that's what it is.  It needs a lot more character customization, way better crafting, and PvE content to be even close to a sandbox.

I think a sandbox game SHOULD have FFAPvP, but NOT all the time, and NOT anywhere.  It should just have -good- PvP that happens when it happens.

Originally posted by Lizard_SF
Stuff

EVE has 300k subscriptions, not 150k, which is a pretty huge difference than how you put it.  IMO, that goes to show that a 'niche' game can have success outside of its niche audience, because 300k to me is no longer niche when it begins to appeal to more people than several AAA non-sandbox titles.  Developers should start realizing that if they make a POLISHED game that delivers at least mostly on what it advertises (instead of being released bug-ridden and practically broken with a lack of features that would make the game -truly- sandbox *cough Darkfall*)

As of now, 'sandbox' is largely associated with broken games or games that ripped people off, because there is only one success story out of the bunch.

IMO - a true sandbox is where the world is really a functioning world.  Not just a group of areas you stay in for a while while you're doing quests, until you move to the next area to do the same thing.  A sandbox should simply be as close to a world as possible, where the features all rely on one another, yet no one feature tries to be the dominant one (IE; raiding, battlegrounds)

It doesn't necessarily have to do with what features the game has.. IE - FFAPvP seems to be associated with sandbox.  Well I really don't think that makes a game a sandbox.  In this regard, I don't think Darkfall is a very well executed sandbox at all.  It has a sole focus, that being PvP with everything coming second.  It is just as theme park as the rest of them until it gets better PvE and crafting.

Instead, I think FFAPvP should simply be a feature of sandbox games.  Just as quests are just a feature.  Raids should just be a feature.. something to do, and not the end-all "get all the awesome gear you can before everyone else gets it" like it currently is.  Quests should be QUESTS, not "Kill X and return here".  Quests from games like Asheron's Call were REAL quests.. Could take you months to collect pieces for a quest to get some awesome armor, or to finally get access to this dungeon where you'd get to fight one of the major storyline villains.  The dungeons had puzzles, rolling balls of death.. platforms you had to jump on, pits of acid to jump over.  etc..

In EVE, the economy is reliant on both PvP and PvE, and likewise PvPers and PvEers rely heavily on a working economy in order to buy things for themselves and be able to make money selling things.

To sum up this sort of 'rant' - Sandbox games should be polished, because a proper sandbox game should have features that all work together to make the game function.  No one feature should be the focus of the game, and really, it should feel like a -world-, not a game.  EVE -feels- like a universe.  The single server thing is, IMO, necessary for a true sandbox.

The next step to sandboxes in the fantasy genre is a planet.  A single planet which can be entirely explored, settled, conquered, complete with its own unique lore, creatures, races, etc.. It shouldn't be a game BASED on conquering, but should instead be a world where it just so happens that people fight a lot and cities and regions change hands.  The main focus of the game should instead be the world itself.. where those things are an accepted part of what goes on, in addition to whatever small or large-scale raids against high-end mobs might take place.. etc..

I hope I've made some sense.

If his asinine replies are any indication of how he is, he probably rage-quit the forums and deleted his account.

As many have said above in their deeper explanations - Skill levels aren't as important in EVE as they are in other games.  The difference from level 4 to level 5 (the max in any skill) is VERY small, while the time it takes to get from 4 to 5 is usually much higher.  So those people who have level 5 skills only have maybe a 5% (or whatever for that particular skill) bonus compared to the person with a level 4.  To get that skill from 1 all the way to 4, may take less combined time than it takes to get that same skill from 4 to 5.  So really the only thing people are behind most of the time, is a measly 5% here, 2.5% there.. etc.. which really doesn't equate to a whole lot when you think of all the possible combinations of ships and fittings that people might be fit with.. A new player might have more skills in his ship of choice than a veteran in the same ship, just because the veteran's skills are elsewhere or geared for different kinds of combat.

A friend of mine uses his 46" as a second monitor, and it works great.  Picture is really crisp.

Never going to happen.  Doesn't need to happen, as EVE without its harsh ruleset would not function and would no longer be the same game.

Formations sound cool.

CCP is creating COSMOS, which will be a social networking feature that will eventually allow for interaction with the EVE client (such as managing skills), and will also help connect the communities of EVE and Dust 514.

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

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Originally posted by Elsabolts
LOL, How can i leave when i see all this love. Is Dust 514 gonna be mmo or no?

 

Jihad works both ways

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Dust will be FPS, not MMO.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it -will- be an MMO.

How was that a dumb assessment?  Have you actually played EVE?

It is a harsh, ruthless PvP game based in ships (which means the lack of visual customization that you see in other games, but will soon be added in Incarna).

Those few reasons right there seem plenty reasonable for why most women may not be interested in EVE.

Yeah, honestly I don't think you will ever have FUN mining unless you join a corp that specializes in mining to where you have groups of people to interact with while you're doing it.  Most of the fun in EVE comes from interactions with others (whether that is PvP or social related).

The good thing about EVE is that there's always more than one way to do something.  If you're not doing something to your full potential, try a different way and see if you can find a way to make yourself more efficient, even if it's riskier.

You're in luck, however.  EVE is introducing COSMOS in the winter expansion.  I'm not sure if this feature will be in at release, but they said there are plans to allow access to your skill planner/changer from the COSMOS social interface.

Point me in the direction of one, because I have yet to see a true hybrid since AC.  :(

It's kind of funny how the first Big Three represented all styles of MMO gameplay..

You had UO - The Sandbox

EQ - The Themepark

AC - The Hybrid

Yet it's unfortunate that only one of those types really caught on.

Played AC for several years.  Best game I've ever played, and ruined most others for me.