The thing about gaming is that while many things change there are a lot of constants. While franchises tend to last in name few games have more staying power than MMOs. Even then some of my favorites have come and gone but titles like EVE Online have remained a presence for the long haul. EVE Online, the community- driven spaceship MMO, celebrates its 15th anniversary this year making it one of the longest running MMO around today with a still-dedicated community of players.
What makes a game like EVE Online so enticing is that fans and new players alike set out on their own paths in this expansive spacefaring adventure. I set out with a little assistance from the folks at CCP to experience EVE Online as a completely new player. For those that don’t know EVE features two main ways to play. The first is via its free-to-play Alpha Clones option which apparently thanks to changes bridges the power level gaps between the Omega Clones monthly subscribers.
What I never really expected out of EVE Online was that for a title that you never step a foot out of your craft you actually get to create your own character. This made a lot of sense as I finally made progress into starting down my chosen career path. Like any MMO your avatar is your public face in everything from public chats to establishing yourself in a faction. What I really like is that you even write your own biography to make your adventure through the star systems unique to get you into the spirit of roleplaying your character.
While the bloodline race you choose doesn’t have any effect on what skills and abilities you can learn it does affect what your base vanilla character race looks like. There are four main factions that you can enlist in each of which has three of the twelve races within. This concept is very similar to what ESO did years later. After you meticulously craft your looks and even your ancestry, you will start out in the controlled space based upon what faction you chose.
The short of things of the backstory is that Earth’s resources were mostly used up, so they set out to colonize the rest of the Milky Way. When a natural wormhole is discovered, humanity set out to explore new destinations. However, after the stabilized natural wormhole collapses unexpectedly destroying the gate to New Eden with it the colonists are left starving and many ultimately die out. The survivors, however, after millennia rebuilt their societies each with their ideologies. 
While each of the four major factions vies for control of space via exploration and often force when necessary, there is a more personal conflict in place. On one half we have an almost Star Wars-ian feud between the between the theocratic Amarr Empire and freed slaves of the now Minmatar Republic after both encountering the Galiente Federation. The other two factions consisting of the megaconglomerates of the Calderi State and the liberal economic democracy of the Galiente Federation are both economically trade-oriented nations that occupy the same star system. For my debut venture into the vast star-systems, I choose the Galiente Federation as it felt like more my style.
No matter what faction you choose players will find themselves in one single massive shared server instead of multiple traditional shards or servers like most MMOs. This I felt makes for a more cohesive and dynamic experience with the other players both from an economical and interactional standpoint. While players will start out on their own, you can opt to seek out corporations or alliances that align with what you interests are or go it alone.
After some going it alone and exploring you may just learn that you’re never really safe anywhere in the world of EVE Online. That’s not to say that EVE doesn’t have a policing force of sorts in the form of the Consolidated Cooperation and Relations Command or CONCORD for short. They are not always present though you will find them mostly in both High and Low-security space which are two of the four main space areas. They also only act as a retribution system against player aggressors or criminals. Of course, they can be your worst enemy as well if you choose to pursue a path in criminal enterprise.
That is one of the things that I find fascinating about EVE Online. In most MMOs, what is commonly referred to as griefing is openly not tolerated with often serious repercussions. In EVE Online it is seemingly allowed unless it is considered blatantly malicious by the developer. EVE is a game that gives players the freedom to pursue their own course and live with the consequences. If you so choose players can steal, extort and even cause other players to get attacked by NPCs in an effort to loot them and make some ISK.
To get anywhere in EVE Online you’re going to need that ISK or InterStellar Kredit to fund your goals. Players can purchase basic supplies like trade goods and blueprints from NPC or barter with other players for goods and resources. The thing to know about EVE is that its in-game economy is mostly player-driven so there are no shortages of ways to make money. Starting off though, as I found out, you should complete all of the starting career path tutorials to bring in ISK before heading off with a plan to pursue the career you want.
Money isn’t the only thing that you need to focus on as skills are just as important as having the money to afford better equipment and ships. Explorers for instance need to continuously improve their skills in Hacking, Salvaging and Astrometric to name a few to be proficient in their field. The great thing about EVE is that skills can be trained in real world time regardless if you’re logged in or not. I like the fact that you can actually queue up a large number of skills to train at any given time. There are ways to speed up training by purchasing injectors to reduce training skill often by days. This of course is there micro-transactions come into play.
As with most MMOs there is a form of micro-transactions found in EVE in the form of Pilots License Extension or PLEX. This currency can used to pay for Omega Time, account services, apparel and skins. Players are also allowed to trade it in-game for ISK. Now normally I’m not one to use micro transactions all that much but at least with EVE they seem to be genuinely trying to halt RMT or Real Money Trading practices that are forbidden in EVE with the PLEX system. I have to say that RMT is something that I abhor in MMO so it’s nice to see that CCP is making a real effort to restrict these actions even after all these years.
What I really enjoy about EVE ultimately though is the view. With over 7,500 star systems to explore there is something special about traveling around the stars at your leisure. While on missions or traveling from one system to another I couldn’t help but feel wowed by the visuals. This is especially great for a game celebrating its 15th year. The only thing that really bugged me a bit was the
The music and sound effects also offer a rather peaceful experience when you’re not engaging in combat. Even then it’s just what I expected in space combat. As painful as seeing other player ships destroyed there is a bit of beauty in their wreckage. Of course, they are even more beautiful and even a bit intimidating when they are in one piece. 
Omega subscribers have access to all the ships available in the game while Alpha have a more limited selection that has since been expanded since the game’s original launch. While Alpha is fine for starters, Omega can offer players that want to really dive in even more options. This service includes faster training speeds, unlimited skills, skill points and even standard tax rates on certain jobs types. It should be known that any skill levels and skills themselves that exceed Alpha limitation are locked out if Omega status lapses. They are however reinstated instantly without relogging back into your account when the service is restored.
No matter if you’re an Alpha or Omega level player, EVE Online is a game that will no doubt take some time to get used to. Thanks to a great community and plenty of online reference guides new players have all they really need to dive into this long standing MMO. So no matter if you seek to run your own corporation, serve along other combatants in a military capacity against NPC and player alike, literally make your mark in the universe or just explore it there is plenty for players to still experience in EVE Online even today. While I’ve played a few space-faring titles there just isn’t anything quite like EVE Online so if you’ve ever wondered about this title even just a little bit then check it out today.
If you want to see what we thought of this game 15 years ago check out our original reviews for EVE Online and EVE Online: Commissioned Officer Edition.
I left Eve Online after 12 yrs, found the game boring esp when the missions are exactly the same as 12 years ago.
They always serm to rebalance ships and gates, but not missions.
In fact i play star citizen and elite dangerous more.
Eve would be ok if they dropped the price of subscriptions down for omega players but keep paying out for something that well just so repetive isnt for me.
Even with Alpha you can only do so much.
Doubt ill ever go back to Eve but it depends what your intrested in.