Interview With an EVE Pirate 222
Within any game, especially massive games, there is usually a well established culture. This of course ultimately leads to some sort of counterculture (usually a la griefer). CCP's EVE has been able to give life to a counterculture that isn't completely destructive and makes for a very rich gameplay experience. Massively recently had a chance to sit down with one of EVE's leading criminals to discuss life as an outlaw. "One notable criminal organization devoted to piracy is Veto Corp, headed by their CEO Ethan Verone, who is without a doubt one of New Eden's more notorious pirates. Under his guidance, Veto Corp has been linked to numerous incidents of ransoming, hijacking, and illegal arms sales, among their many other crimes. Their modus operandi of shunning territorial control in favor of remaining fast and free ensures that Veto can conduct 'business' and hit targets anytime, and practically anywhere."
Death system (Score:5, Insightful)
I think a lot of this has to do with the price of death.
When you die, you loose your ship and that can hurt a lot. This causes players to think more before they act. It offeres a bit of suspense when one gets into a battle. No other game has this, and if the death system was not the way it was then EVE would crumble.
If you die and get your ship back for free, what's the point?
Re:ugh god (Score:1, Insightful)
EVE is awesome. It's exactly what the developers wanted it to be, and I'm glad it exists. Every second you bastards spend playing it is one more second you're not talking about tits on my servers.
I salute you, CCP.
Re:Unique... (Score:5, Insightful)
Or you find yourself alone in a scary place and you team up. You start a militia and you maintain peace about yourself at the point of a well fueled missile barge.
If it's dangerous to wander out into the dangerous bits... form your own gang to survive. Soon your gang becomes a colony and then a fleet and then a nation... and suddently the dangerous bits are just home.
Re:ugh god (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, because wanting to play a game without some sociopath constantly ruining and interrupting it is being a "carebear." Give me a fucking break.
Re:Is it too late to start? (Score:3, Insightful)
The biggest problem with EVE is that you have to be really committed to it. You can't just sit down and play by yourself a few hours. There's no picking up a PUG and doing something.
They have guilds they call 'Corps' that are generally very big, and they 'own' a certain section of space. If you join that Corp you are usually fairly safe in that area unless another corp comes in to attack. But the thing is, you can't go at anything alone. Or if you do, you'd better be able to run away fast.
The best way to imagine it is almost like being in a RL army. You can't just hop in your jeep, drive to Germany, and have a fight. It'd be you Vs. dozens, or hundreds of them. You have to basically travel in a pack with your guild because alone, you die.
Re:Death system (Score:3, Insightful)
When you die, you loose your ship and that can hurt a lot. This causes players to think more before they act. It offeres a bit of suspense when one gets into a battle. No other game has this, and if the death system was not the way it was then EVE would crumble
Since the price of death is so high in EVE, you never really get to see too much PVP. And when battles do occur, it's usually very lopsided. If your fleet leader is halfway intelligent, he doesn't engage in battles that would destroy half his Corp's ships, but doesn't hesitate to attack when he has the clear advantage. Sometimes there are large battles that are fun, but those are usually lag fests. It's disappointing when a PVP oriented game has such boring and flawed PVP.
I personally don't see the appeal of spending hours and hours on obtaining something (virtual mind you) and then possibly loosing it. Especially when outside factors like lag (which EVE has issues with) can be the sole reason why you lose your ship. EVE is like Diablo2 with only the hardcore option. I graduated college and have a job now. My "hardcore" gaming phase is over.
Re:Death system (Score:3, Insightful)
Since the price of death is so high in EVE, you never really get to see too much PVP.
I don't know when you last played, but since the introduction of faction warfare, PvP is fairly easy to find, and you can get away with using small disposable ships if you want as well, because plenty of others are doing the same.
Re:Is it too late to start? (Score:2, Insightful)
The beautifull thing about EVE is that playing doesn't involve actually *PLAYING*. you pay CCP for the right to level while offline.
If you feel the urge to actually go online, you should have some good mining bots. This way, you'll be able to watch a movie on your tv-set in the living room, instead of having to check whether it's time to hit the "return to base to unload button"
Once you've spent enough time not playing, you'll be able to join corporation-wide battles, which involves incredibly high-tech weapons which can kill your opponents half a light year away. Of course, that means you won't actually ever see exciting battles. You'll only survive/be able to stay in your corp, of course, if you do exactly what your commanding officer says. Soloing is *NOT* an option
So, join EVE! It's like real life, you'll work for others while doing highly repetitive tasks,but at least you don't have to log on much!
Re:Is it too late to start? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:ugh god (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't grief yet I find it enjoyable to play. (non-carebear industrialist) Think of the griefers as NPC's, as if AI had advanced (or receded) 100 years. They are your opponents in the game.
If you keep thinking of the other players as 'intruding on _YOUR_ game', you'll never understand EVE. The players are the game, not the brainless rats.
Re:ugh god (Score:2, Insightful)
WoW is populated by angsty teens with too much free time on their hands.
Eve is populated by their parents.
Re:ugh god (Score:3, Insightful)
There is no "beating" Eve. It's an expansive MMO with an ongoing storyline. It's massive to the point that no single person - regardless of how many accounts they own and how much free time they have - can fully explore all parts of the game from all points of view.
Yes, the game starts out slow. And it has to - the interface is so complex, powerful, and loaded with features that you'd be lost beyond hope if it started out fast-paced. The gameplay starts out slow for the first few days (unless you immediately join a 0.0 corp) so you can learn how to use enough of what's available to you to actually accomplish something.
Carebears can do just fine in Eve. In fact, you can do just fine in a big corp in a big alliance in Eve living in 0.0. As long as there are plenty of others around you to fullfill other roles (security, intel, defense, etc), you can sit and mine all day every day if you want. Or you can salvage ship components. Or you can trade on the market. There's a ton of money to be made for anyone who moves ships and equipment to 0.0 space. Alternatively, you can avoid corps altogether and run around high-sec all day every day. As long as you're in a 0.5+ system, the chances of getting ganked are about 10,000 to 1. Having played for years, I've never once been suicide-ganked in high-sec empire space. And honestly? I've never heard of anyone I know getting ganked in high-sec empire space.
And of course pirates don't fight on even terms. What kind of idiot would? Do you get extra points for winning an evenly-matched fight? No, you get a damaged ship and/or damaged equipment. (ie. you get a repair bill). It's a brutally open universe. I can get 20 of my best pals together with battleships and sit on low sec gates all day blasting the Hell out of people in the tiniest of ships. No one forces them to go through there. The game provides ample information for finding out about gate camps before anything is lost. So why do people decide to blow through without paying attention? Laziness, ignorance, or some other personal problem. Want safety in low-sec? Have someone scout for you. Want to safely transport expensive good across large, dangerous areas? Contract out the job.
Eve is a game where you can go for years without dying if you're smart and pay attention (and are highly averse to risk). However, one of the beautiful things about Eve is that no matter how much you die, no matter how much you lose, you can always come right back. Ships and equipment are disposable in Eve. Once you get used to the fact that you ARE going to lose everything at some point (unless, again, you play the 'safe' game), it becomes a whole lot easier to accept loss.
There have been times when I've been trapped in a hostile system with no chance for escape. Did I cry in a teacup because of that? No, I joked on the local channel (which is viewable to all in the same system) with the guys trying to kill me. I did what I could to throw off their scans, I ran for the gate when I had the best possible chance, and then I got popped. Did I run around screaming and crying and calling people names? No, I updated my clone and went about my business.
Eve is not a game that will coddle you. It is not a game for people who can't handle losing. It's definitely not a game for people who are terrified at the thought of not being safe by the design of the game. Eve is wide, wide open, and has just enough safety built in to make for a good story and a reasonable chance to get yourself started.
Re:so much for notorius (Score:5, Insightful)
Band of Developers.
they run into problems they have their pet admins fix it for them.
Re:ugh god (Score:4, Insightful)
And this is why Eve will forever remain a niche MMO.
this is why I also like EVE. the developers dont compromise and try to cater to the needs of constant whiners. they offer you a lot of possibilities but the learning curve (and universe) is ruthless. this way the community is pretty mature and dedicated.
Fine and dandy with me if it helps keeps the assholes off WoW and Guild Wars.
have fun playing with your dolls. we will have fun playing with our fucking SPACESHIPS. in space!