We present the analysis of a new expansion of EVE-Online, the first opera of the Icelanders CCP, former players and fans of the missed Ultima Online.
Maybe you have heard about a game in which if you are killed, you lose even your identity card. A game in which robberies, betrayals and murders are our daily bread. In which you can lose in a second what you have arduously achieved for several months, or even years. A game in which mercenaries become millionaires, and can change the course of a war. That game is EVE Online, the first opera of the Icelanders CCP, former players and fans of the missed Ultima Online.
However, not everything is war and destruction in EVE. There is also trade (a lot), industry (many options, from mining or refining to producing ships or even building large space colonies), R & D, the role of good and territorial control.
Of course, it also has its gray areas (a mediocre mission system, boring mineral collection) and even its dark areas (there is practically no official documentation and the manual was obsolete even before the game went on sale, some problems of uncontrolled developers), so in this analysis I will try to depict both the good and the bad in the clearest and most pleasant way possible.
The story behind why we are going to become space pilots is not at all original, but rather it seems an excuse for the game. In short, it is reduced to the fact that in the very distant future humans discovered a technology that allows us to travel and colonize space. One fine day, a strange phenomenon appears, that later would be called EVE Gate, and that is not more than an interspace door that leads to another galaxy.
Quickly a colonization of the new systems begins, until without warning, EVE Gate collapses, leaving the colonists of the new regions completely isolated from our beloved Earth.
Thus, in the new territories there is a spectacular technological leap backwards, and it is only after thousands of years when they rediscover the benefits of space travel.
More or less there is where we enter as pilots of one of the 4 races descendants of the first settlers.
While the story is not to throw rockets, the fact is that on the other hand there are a lot of stories and chronicles that perfectly describe the society of EVE Online and part of its history. The trouble is that all these stories are very little integrated into the game. You can read them all from the official website, but you can also play perfectly without ever knowing they are the Fedos or what are the favorite torture methods of the Caldari.
All these chronicles and stories are of very good quality and their reading is very pleasant, as long as you have a high level of English.
With several awards to his credit, including two consecutive ones on MMORPG.com, the EVE Online graphics can be considered more than good. In fact, if we take into account that the game is visually the same practically as when it went on sale 4 years ago, we have to say that they are excellent.
Of course, it helps that most of the space is empty and therefore the graphic engine does not receive as much load as in most comparable titles.
In spite of everything, some textures and models already begin to show signs of old age, well worn, but old age at the end of the day. Therefore, developers have not fallen asleep on their laurels and are already working on a graphical improvement, both for current systems and imminent DirectX 10.
The ships are usually very well modeled, and some in particular, like the Megathron or the Machariel are certainly spectacular. Enemy ships also have a lot of detail. But EVE has a problem. Due to the scale of the ships and the distances at which the clashes normally take place, the most suitable perspective to play is using a very far zoom. And when we get too far away, the graphic engine automatically replaces our beloved ships with crosses of different colors and thicknesses.
In addition, some ships seem out of scale, because although in theory they are immense, they seem even smaller when compared with others.
The space stations are different for each race, as are the stargates. In addition, the stations also have an interior view, although it is purely aesthetic, since we can not interact in any way. It seems that this will change in the future, since in CCP they have plans to develop the game within the stations, being able to walk through them and even have private areas for each corporation. By the way, I have not mentioned it before, but corporations are groups of players that come together and have advantages such as hangars, offices and even private chat channel.
In summary, the graphic section is solid, although not very varied (the universe does not give much more either ??) and already begins to show wrinkles.
A positive consequence is that it performs well on mid-range or old computers.
The sound in EVE can be separated into two clearly differentiated sections. On the one hand there are the sound effects, which are nothing special, and also hurt the performance of the game greatly. As you can imagine, there is no lack of noise for explosions, missiles, lasers or hyperspace jumps, but it is not worthwhile to activate them because of the damage they cause to the rate of images per second. Apparently, this is because the game does not support hardware sound acceleration. Negative for CCP.
On the other hand is the environmental music. Sublime. I can not find another word. The themes vary perfectly according to the activity, and there are some really inspired. Positive for CCP.
But, now comes the big problem, and there is no way to activate only the music. It goes all in one package, effects and music, so most players have been almost 4 years without being able to enjoy some of the best composites for PC games. Negative for CCP.
The creation of characters is really impressive. On the one hand we have the typical race choice options (4 different, all human), bloodline (3 per race), descent, schools and specializations. Of course, each choice entails consequences as modifiers to the attributes (the most important long-term part) and initial abilities, and place and corporation where we start our adventures as space pilots.
And on the other hand we have to create our alter ego. This is where we have to take off our hats. The options to modify the face of our pilot are endless. Not only because we have many options in colors and types of hair, eyes or lips, but we have 4 completely modifiable areas (head, jaw, eyes and mouth), so that it will be practically impossible to find two equal characters. The great disappointment comes when after doing all this and finally start playing, we realize that our pilot is reduced to a photo card, completely static. A pity, since the system is really very powerful, but it ends up being wasted.
Although it is something that is explained in the tutorial and in the character creation phase, I would like to mention a detail. In EVE there are no experience points. Completing missions and killing enemies does not make our pilot advance. Our character improves in real time. We just have to select a skill and in a few hours or days it will be completed. The time it takes depends on the points we have in our attributes (charisma, intelligence, memory, perception and willpower).
That is why I said before that the most important part of character creation is the assignment of attributes. Each race has a base score, to which we must then add 4 points of our ancestry, and 5 more that we will choose. Today, the most important attributes are perception for soldiers and memory / intelligence for industrialists. Actually all attributes are quite important, and having similar attributes is usually the best option, with the exception of charisma. Although it has its interest for some professions, the truth is that it is by far the least useful attribute of all.
EVE Online is a role-playing game. It is not a space simulator. So nobody is surprised to not be able to handle the ships in the first person recalling our years of vices to the X-Wing. No, the control is in the purest RPG style, that is, everything works with the mouse. From menu navigation, to the handling of the ship. All. To reduce a little the kilometers that our rodent will travel, we have at our disposal some keyboard shortcuts, although not as many as would be desirable.
Anyway, no one is afraid or backs down thinking that you can not use your new joystick to do pirouettes and chopped. The game is designed to play with the mouse, and although sometimes they can be important, risky maneuvers do not offer much advantage. Keep in mind that the ships of EVE are not fighters of the 2nd World War. The smallest ship in EVE is like a Boeing 747. Its maneuverability is limited. In addition, the technology allows the use of advanced defense and attack systems, so that we are not limited to firing at the front, but the weapons rotate by themselves, allowing us to shoot in all directions of space.
All this is summarized in one sentence. Although the skill and skill of the player are important, it is the character's abilities that will allow us to do more, go further, faster, do more damage or buy cheaper.
This, which for some will be a disadvantage, for me is a great advantage. From my limited point of view, in a role-playing game, the important thing is not my strength, agility or skill, but that of my character. That is, even though I go to the gym every day and can lift 765 kg with one hand, in a role-playing game I can perfectly be a weak magician unable to carry his own staff. Or it may be that in real life I do not see further from my hand without glasses, but in a role-playing game I am the best archer on this side of the Mississippi. In short, when I have a role-playing game, I like that the consequences of my actions are influenced by the skills of my character, and not by my speed with the mouse, my 38 'flat screen or my control super leverage with 14 buttons configurable
Of course, I'm up to date on role-playing games, and I know there are wonders like Morrowind or Gothic 2 that use another control system. That's fine, variety is always necessary. However, at the moment I prefer a control like Baldur's Gate that like Oblivion's.
This is where EVE Online really stands out from the vast majority of online role-playing games. If you've only played World of Warcraft or Everquest 2, then you will not know what I'm talking about. If you have had the chance to try Ultima Online, then you can get an idea. EVE Online is not a game. It is an alternative universe. It's another life. We could say that EVE Online is like Europa Universalis, and World of Warcraft as Age of Empires. One is much more accessible, fast, spectacular, while the other is incredibly more calm, deep and serious. Guess which one sells more ??
I guess you will not believe me just because I tell you, so I'm going to try to explain how EVE is played so that you can see it for yourself.
The first thing to do is create a character. We have already touched on the topic in the character creation section, so we skipped it. Once the character is done, the game starts with a tutorial inside a station, in the origin system of the race that we have chosen for our character. In addition, you will have a very basic ship that will serve you to perform the first missions.
The tutorial is quite complete, and is in Spanish, which is appreciated in such a complex game. And pay attention to me in this, it is obligatory. Do not throw yourself into space like thunderbolts, trusting in your superior ability for computer games. Do the tutorial quietly. You will save yourself future troubles. I may even save your life.
Once the tutorial is done, our mentor recommends an agent to start our corporate career. This agent will ask us to do a few missions for him, and in return he will reward us with money and a basic implant. I recommend that you complete all the missions that I send you, since you will get some money, and if you sell the implant you will have enough money to buy a better ship.
If you have listened to me and completed the tutorial, you should have been training a skill for a while. How do you do this? Then you open the window of your character, select an ability (skill in English) and with the right button you tell him to train it. And that's it. Yes, that's it. Nothing to kill hundreds of wolves, orcs or dragons. Nor of looking for complicated macros that keep our character hitting axes throughout the night. Nothing. We just have to wait.
This is the first great triumph of EVE. In a stroke it ends with the most absurd part of most RPGs. Level up (although in this case there are no levels, if not skills) no longer depends on how much time you lose by killing ice elementals. In EVE the skills go up alone, you just have to activate them, and of course, buy them if you do not have them. This is also one of the biggest problems. And is that uploading some skills at level 5 (the maximum) can take a long, long time.
There are people who even consider the latter an advantage, since it acts as an anti-anxiety filter, and according to them a more adult and patient community is achieved. I have no doubt that this is true, but still consider that the skills take too long to increase.
It is also at this point that most players become overwhelmed, desperate and uninstall the game. Why? Because the game does not take cogiditos hand in hand from one mission to another rising one level after another. They think, 'if skills go up alone, why should I waste my time doing missions or killing npcs?' And after a while without really knowing what to do, they leave the game.
It comes to my head once I installed the Football Manager to my little brother. Well, to be truthful, it was Championship Manager 4. After waiting impatiently for the league to be created and electing Barça, he said, 'Very well, and now how do I play a game?' Then I explained that before I had to review the template ('what for? If I know it by heart, will Xavi, Figo, Puyol, Pibito?'), Do the tactics ('buahhhh, it's clear, 4 -3-3, like the Dream Team '), schedule the trainings (' what? I have to train? I want to play? '), Sign second coaches and physiotherapists (' ?? '), renew the players that finish contract ('ah, that's cool, Rivaldo street') and sign players you need ('cool! I want Zidane, Batistuta, Ayala, Ballack, Joaquín and Giggs'). After half doing all that, he gave it to continue. You can not imagine his face of frustration when he saw that after 3 minutes calculating, the game had advanced 2 days and was still in early July. He looked at me and said 'Do not you have FIFA?'
Well, this example could be perfectly repeated with the EVE Online changing some names. EVE is a slow game, designed for people who like long-term goals, think long before acting, be proactive, calculating, plan your movements and strategies very well. And the risk. Because no matter how calculating and proactive you are, there is always the possibility of losing everything in a bad second.
The second great triumph is the oneness of the universe. That is, unlike in the rest of online games, there are no different servers with identical copies of the game, but there is only one server where all the subscribers play. I do not think I can explain the consequences that this causes. Generates a great guild and collective feeling among all the players that makes the community of this game one of the best and most involved. Everything that happens is remembered, because this is the only universe that matters. There are not 20 or 30 more, only one, so whatever you do influences 100% of the player community. If there are 10 large alliances in war, practically 50% of the community is at war. If a pilot loses a single ship, the only one lost in the whole game. There is no more. Really,
Well, let's not stray. We were talking about what to do once the first missions were completed. Well what you have to do is make decisions. The first, and most important: what do you want to do throughout your career as a pilot in EVE Online? The answers are not as simple as 'reaching level 60 and getting the best armor'. EVE is a very broad game. A living universe, with a vibrant economy, with entire systems and constellations changing sovereignty every day, with fierce pirates and mercenaries without honor, with great alliances that collapse in a few weeks.
The options are many, and very diverse. On the one hand, there is the industrial branch. There are skills to mine (collect raw material), transport (with large industrial buildings), refine (transform that raw material into minerals) and production (build ships, modules, consumer goods, and even large structures and space stations, from basic and flat minerals). Intimately linked to the industrial branch is the scientific branch. Mostly, it consists of improving and copying original plans (Original Blueprint or BPO in English) and working for R & D agents with the hope of obtaining an advanced technology patent. For a few months there have also been invention skills, through which advanced technology plans limited in efficiency and productivity can be obtained.
On the other hand we have a lot of commercial skills. In fact, although unpopular, a merchant's career can be very lucrative.
The last of the possibilities that does not force us to stick with our peers is the leadership of corporations and player alliances. All corporations and alliances need a CEO, and depending on the skills of this, the corporation or alliance may have more members, be multiracial, pay less commercial fees ?? moreover, it is this charge, more than any other, that needs the player's own skills, through diplomacy, dialogue, publicity, or why not, extortion and threats, making a name in the universe of EVE.
Of course, all these options are open to pilots of any race, and since there is no limit in the skills that can be learned, they are not closed roads, but they can be combined to suit the consumer creating truly unique characters. Think that there are more than 350 different abilities, and many have almost exorbitant prerequisites. Given that nobody can learn them all (it would take more than 20 years in real time to have all the skills at level 5), it is mandatory to choose and specialize. Thus each player can create a fully customized pilot.
But this is nothing. There are also combat skills. On the one hand the skills of ballistics, missiles and androids. The more advanced you are, the more damage you will do. Each system is different and has its advantages and disadvantages, and some ships that work better than others.
On the other hand, there are ship handling skills. Basically they are divided into 7 groups, with their technologically advanced versions: frigates (basic, interceptors, assault ships, and covert operations ships), destroyers (basic and advanced), cruisers (basic, assault, logistics, and operations) advanced intelligence), combat cruisers or battlecruisers (basic and command ships), combat ships or battleships, industrial ships (basic and advanced transport) and capital ships. Of course, each race has its specific models, and in addition there are many hybrid or pirate models, although they usually require skills of several races to be able to handle them.
This is not everything. There are also skills for electronic warfare. Each race has its own version of electronic warfare, and a pilot with the necessary skills and the appropriate ship can cause a real disaster in the enemy's army.
We also have the leadership skills in combat, which provide great advantages to groups that have an experienced commander.
Finally, there are the generic skills of navigation, electronics, mechanics, shields and armor, that everyone should learn independently of their profession.
But you will say, what can I do with all that? Well that is the true strength of EVE. That there are no barriers or limits imposed by the game. You can do whatever you want. You can be a solitary miner who makes a humble living, or you can create a corporation and try to get your own sovereignty in some remote place in the universe. You can become a clever merchant by taking advantage of sporadic offers or the haste of some. You can be a ruthless pirate. You can even be a pirate with a good heart. Or devote your life to the Empire and perform missions to increase its power and glory.
You can be a scientist striving to get an advanced patent and live off rents. Or you can join a mercenary corporation that is sold to the highest bidder. You can be a spy, or on the contrary engage in counterintelligence. You can try the fast track and try to become a millionaire based on tricks and scams. You can be a genius of electronics and make enemies fear your superior abilities to deactivate attack systems. Can you join other pilots and create your own space station, with its market, laboratories, mechanical workshop? You can become a commander and greatly improve the performance of your comrades in combat. Or you can be everything at once. The choice is yours.
The best thing of all is that you can dedicate yourself to the profession that you choose body and soul, and move perfectly without having to shoot or a laser, since you do not gain experience the more you kill or kill more missions, if not you can be quietly discussing Strategies with your colleagues or mining in a remote system of the periphery, and at the same time be improving your androids skills, trade, refined or whatever you want.
Of course, not everything is as easy as choosing the skill and training it. The skills have to be bought, as well as the ships and modules. Also, every time you destroy the ship you lose both this one and the modules that it will carry, and you will have to buy more again. This particularity, which is so little seen today in other games, is precisely what allows industry and commerce in the game to be always alive, and that miners and producers are always necessary, since the vast majority of Ships and modules are created by the players themselves.
Comment in depth all the different game options offered by EVE would be too long, but I would like to stop explaining a bit how the combat works.
To begin, you should know that there are no specific skills for pve (or combat against non-player ships) and pvp (or combat against other players). All skills are equally valid for any type of combat, although obviously, given the well-known little intelligence of rats (or non-player ships), not all skills are equally effective for all occasions.
The universe of EVE is divided into regions, these in turn into constellations, and these into systems. Each system has a value that represents its security, being 1.0 the highest and 0.0 the lowest. In systems 0.5 and higher, the police (or CONCORD) keeps an eye on them so they do not commit murders, so unless you have a 'casus belli' (EU2 dixit), they will chase you and destroy your ship in case you attack them. another pilot. Mostly, the valid causes for attacking someone are a declared war or that they have stolen something from a container.
In systems 0.4 to 0.1, you can attack anyone, and anyone can attack you, although if you do it near a station or stargate, the defenses will attack you. In addition, you will lose part of your security status (goes from 5.0, to -10).
In systems 0.0 there are no rules or defenses. You can attack whoever you want where you want, and there are no negative consequences, beyond the possibility of losing your ship.
What prompts players to travel to unsafe systems? Well, of course, he peels it. When less security has a juicier system will be the rewards for doing missions, and also for killing npcs. In addition, the best minerals can only be found in 0.0 safety systems.
Well, the first thing is not to get nervous. With luck, you will have prepared your ship for combat. That part, preparing the ship, is surely the most discussed and profound part of the game. Each ship has 3 different types of bays where modules can be placed. In the upper bays, weapons (pistols or missiles) and vampiric modules are often placed, which rob the enemy of energy to give it to you. In the intermediate bays there are usually modules to improve the shields of the ship, for electronic warfare and to multiply the speed. In the lower modules are usually put modules to improve the armor, and some characteristics of the ship as the load capacity, base speed, mass (yes, yes, the mass influences, and much, in the handling of the ship), agility , damage and capacity of electronic circuits.
In addition, there is another bay where we can put androids that will help us to kill or harm the enemy, or to cure our companions.
And finally, since the last expansion, each ship has special gaps for permanent improvements. These improvements usually have counter-benefits, and you can not remove them without destroying them.
You have to know that this brief explanation does not do justice to the depth of the system of preparation and modification of ships. There are thousands of different configurations, and all are vulnerable in some sense. In addition, due to the very nature of the game's skill system, a pilot with 70 million skill points can lose a battle against 5 or 6 pilots of 5 million points each. Similarly, although there are special versions of modules better than those made by the players themselves, these are incredibly expensive, and the improvements they offer are not as substantial. For example, in a 1vs1 combat with equal ships, if one of the two carries special modules it will probably win. But if the combat is 2 vs 1 with equal ships, the most normal thing is that regardless of the quality of the modules,
To finish this section, say that from Ultima Online and Starwars Galaxies (before they turned it into a kill-kill), and with the permission of Second Life, there has not been a game with such depth, options, and freedom of action. It is really a living universe, in constant evolution, and thanks to the peculiarity of playing in a single universe, anyone can make a name and get fame (or infamy).
This is a very difficult aspect to assess. If we talk about pure fun and hard, nothing can beat Worms 2 or The Day of the Tentacle, in my opinion.
But the fun is not only in the laughter or jokes. There are many games that do not make you laugh, if not quite the opposite, that sometimes even make you spend bad times, like FEAR, or with which you have to squeeze your neurons, like Myst. In others the fun causes it to advance in the story or improve your characters, as in Baldur's Gate or GTA.
EVE Online belongs to one of those groups. Games like Civilization, Combat Mission, Europa Universalis, Football Manager or Morrowind. Games with which you do not laugh, but whose fun comes from other sensations such as the achievement of objectives, the planning and subsequent realization of complex strategies, the ability to overcome unfavorable situations thanks to a good maneuver and not so much by quick reflexes or a mouse superior to your adversary's. The assurance that success does not lie in the speed of your index finger, but in your ability to solve the riddles and problems that arise.
From this point of view, EVE is very fun and rewarding. But, although there are, do not expect to find many funny situations or that will make you laugh.
The game is in English and German, except the tutorial that is translated into several languages, including Spanish. In addition, the official language in most channels is English, although there are specific channels for practically all languages. And of course, there are also private channels in which each one chooses the language in which to speak.
The Hispanic community is quite broad, and since we all play in the same universe, it is easy to get together with one another.
The latest official news set the number of players at 165,000, of which there are always connected by at least 15,000, with a maximum on Sunday afternoon of more than thirty thousand (34,000 is the current record, which also according to the developers is a record of simultaneous players on the same server)
To be able to play you have to pay monthly the subscription, which amounts to 15 euros, with the usual discounts if you pay several months in advance. There is also a rather curious possibility that is to pay the subscription with money from the game. Yes, as it sounds, for about 400 million isk (Inter Stellar Kredit, or the official currency in the universe of EVE), we can pay 3 months subscription. Curious the less.
Anyway, just in case, all those who are interested, should play before the 15 days of free trial offered by the game, and if at the end of these 2 weeks they decide to continue they do not have to start from scratch, otherwise they will be able to continue with your current character.
Since it went on sale, EVE has had several expansions. But nobody should worry about this, since they are completely free and are integrated into the executable files that must be downloaded from the official page in order to install the game.
In general, EVE players are quite mature and sociable. Due to the nature of a single server, the official forums are practically an extension of the battle territory, and you can find real dialectical combats, but as I said, the vast majority of players are very mature.
In addition, due to the uniqueness of the game (it is not fantasy, it is not a famous franchise, it requires subscription, it is very bad to die, it is practically not known except by those who play, the advance system repels the impatient), the Average age of the players is in the twenty-first, something that many players will appreciate.
Probably also due to these singularities, the community is one of the most active I have known, with a large number of activities and incredibly elaborate help pages for a game with so few subscribers.
EVE Online: Revelations (PC) The really important conclusion is what each one can do. From here the only thing I can do is to invite you all to at least give this game a chance. With the permission of Second Life, it is the most complete virtual experience available, and a breath of fresh air in the world of MMORPGs. Only for that reason it would be worth trying, but it is also very well done, it is deep, dynamic, practically endless and has a group of programmers in love with their own work and who do not stop expanding and improving the game.height = 109] EVE Online: Revelations (PC) Everyone who likes to have long-term goals, draw complex strategies, discover new things even after several years playing, eat your head with numbers and percentages. To those who think that survival has to have some advantage over dying every 2 hours, to those who think that not everything in life is killing and capturing flags, to those who do not understand why a thief can not steal, or how can a Cleric level up killing people. Those who carry a pirate inside, and those who carry a truck driver as well. All of you should try EVE Online. After all, it's free for 15 days. - The character advancement system.- The depth of all game options.- Play in a single universe with 160,000 more people.- Be able to build large space stations in remote systems and claim sovereignty over them.- Exciting combat between players, not only with ships, if not even from the market to maintain commercial hegemony over a region. - Earn life as an honest producer without firing a single missile. - A large community very active and mature. - Pirate life is the best life, without working. , without studying?? The bad - Again, the skills advancement system, since some may take too long to move forward.- Pretty poor mission system.- Some game parts (mostly mining minerals) are boring- Little documentation inside the game.- Some Problems with a few CCP employees who benefited from his position.- It is not translated into Spanish.- Dying without having an updated clone. - Pirate life is the best life, without working, without studying ?? The bad - Again, the skills advancement system, since some may take too long to move forward.- Pretty poor mission system.- Some game parts (mostly mining minerals) are boring- Little documentation inside the game.- Some Problems with a few CCP employees who benefited from his position.- It is not translated into Spanish.- Dying without having an updated clone. - Pirate life is the best life, without working, without studying ?? The bad - Again, the skills advancement system, since some may take too long to move forward.- Pretty poor mission system.- Some game parts (mostly mining minerals) are boring- Little documentation inside the game.- Some Problems with a few CCP employees who benefited from his position.- It is not translated into Spanish.- Dying without having an updated clone.
A reference title in its kind, which stands out above its competitors and which you will enjoy from beginning to end, surely several times. A game destined to become classic over the years.
