Well, I played EVE for roughly two hours last night and ended my session by choosing Exploration as my trade. I finished the main tutorial, but there are still Exploration-specific tutorials left to complete.
EVE may very well have the steepest learning curve of any game I've ever played (the only competition for the title that comes to mind is Dark Age of Camelot during beta). If the game had been available when I was younger, had more time, and had not yet amassed a sizable backlog of great games, this might have been my game of choice. I thoroughly enjoyed the Sega Genesis version of
Starflight (how's that for obscure?) during my youth and have been looking for a comparable title since. (The closest I've come in the years since is
Star Control 3.)
It's clear that that CCP is making the game they want to make, focus group testing be darned. Even the tutorial, called a "crash course," is designed to prevent the player from feeling entirely overwhelmed by the scope and complexity of the game. CCP's own "playground vs. theme park" comparison is apt; EVE strays as far from the "theme park" MMOs (like WoW) as I've seen any developer yet dare.
CCP isn't using kidding when they say that EVE Online isn't for everyone. It's not. The learning curve stands in stark contrast to the pick-up-and-play style prevalent in an industry that shows a trend of shifting more money toward mobile game development. The game's complexity is both the appeal and the roadblock of EVE Online and it's clear to see why the game is successful, though will never see a player base as large as WoW, Guild Wars, or other popular "theme park" MMOs.
Would I recommend EVE? That depends entirely on what the player is looking for. There's a 14-day trial available, so you can always try it for free.
As for me, I like a little more color in my virtual worlds and an easier way to meet another player at the nearest town. Granted, I've only played EVE Online for two hours, but I'm the type of MMO player that wants to go to a place where my character will have a roof over my head when I log. I want to see my friends' characters five or six feet away from mine, rather than see their ship a few kilometers out.
If you're looking for a MMO to give you the warm fuzzies, EVE ain't it. No one, not even CCP, the game's developer, would claim it would. It's easy to imagine that there are a lot of game experiences in EVE that you won't find elsewhere, but it's clear that it takes a special type of gamer to invest the time and effort to reach those experiences.
As for me, I've gotten lazier over the years when it comes to games. Or maybe it's that I can't afford the time to play through a level 42 times to beat it (with the rare exception of Mega Man 9) or spend an afternoon trying to figure out how to collect a secret Item of Power(TM). When I load up a game, I want to be having fun as close to immediately as possible. That alone may very well be the reason I find myself losing the remnants of my interest in MMOs (that, boring combat, and an obvious lack of significant advances in the "theme park" MMOs, like WoW). It takes me about 60 seconds from the time I boot up my Wii to the time I'm in a level in Super Mario Galaxy 2; no moment feels wasted. I've yet to see that type of time/fun efficiency in any MMO.
(FOR ME ANYWAYS!!)
