Eve is a slow moving, titanic sandbox game. Take all the elements of WoW that seem to make it so popular and turn them on their head. Grinding can only be used to net you money and loot, not XP. It takes months of play in order to be able to get to where you want to be if you set your goals high, game play is more tactical and soloing is quite possible for people who want to.
You see EVE does things very, very differently. In fact as an MMO is all in a class of its own. Here's the setting pitch:
Humanity spreads to the stars using jump gate and warp technology. On the way, they find a massive natural wormhole they call EVE. Naturally, they go through it and explore the other side, and soon start to colonize the system they call "New Eden". Slowly, humanity spreads across the stars on the other side of the wormhole, they grow, they prosper. Then something bad happens. You see the colonies are still dependant on supplies from the other side of EVE to sustain them- EVE decides to collapse. Cue a very long dark age in which most of humanities colonies are wiped out. In the end though, a few survive the nightmare. The Amarr, an extremely religious society which controls large amounts of space. The Minmitar, a tribal republic with citizens spread all over space. The Gallente, a federation who value freedom and democracy above all else. And the Caldari, a ruthless corporate controlled state that place the good of their nation above the good of anyone within it.
Eve's back story is even more complex that that, but you'll pick it up if you play the game a little and do some reading. Please do, as the effort that his gone into writing the history if the EVE universe is nothing short of phenomenal. The story, like world of Warcraft, has developed over a series of expansion packs, each adding new elements to the game, be they the Titans- massive ships that only the most prosperous of player corporations (Eve's Guilds) can construct and maintain, the Trinity patch which upgraded EVE with stunning new graphics, or the latest empyrean age patch which introduced factionalized warfare between the different races (before that warfare was limited to 0.0 space, but we'll talk about that later). Also, Eve doesn't just add new content in its expansion packs. Constant patches and tweaks also add new ships, weapons and missions.
And the best part of this- EVE and ALL its expansion packs, are FREE TO DOWNLOAD. Unlike many other MMO's, the only thing you need to pay is the monthly subscription fee. Oh, and there is also a completely free, no obligation 14 day trial that anyone can sign up for, you don't even need an invite from a current player.
What's the Game Play Like?
Here's how most people's lives on EVE go:
You start with a small ship and some cash. After completing a basic tutorial that teaches you all the basic mechanics of the game (about 20% of all the actual game play features), you're inducted into an NPC corporation, and set loose on an unsuspecting world. Make some friends, and then set about making yourself money. You can do this many ways, by running missions for agents, by mining, refining and selling ore, by pirating, by building things for other players, by theft, by wisely playing the stock market (In theory you could make billions of ISK- the game's currency never leaving your starting station), the possibilities are many. On your way you buy a better ship, upgrade your weapons, and so forth.
Then you hit a decision. You can stay in "Empire space", the newbie area of the game where an organization called CONCORD enforces security (Basically if some idiot tries to pick a fight with you, CONCORD comes and blows him out of the sky), or move towards what the game calls 0.0 (Or nullsec) space. This area is not policed by CONCORD and does not have ANY NPC elements in it at all.
0.0 Space is probably what makes eve so interesting. Everything there is player created, the economy, the politics, everything. Groups of Corporations form Alliances which are the big players out in 0.0. These corporations have to build their own space stations, harvest their own minerals, build their own ships and manage their economy. This is true sandbox territory here. On the other hand, that which you build may be taken from you, and everyone out in 0.0 is out to expand their territory…
Staying in empire space means you still have CONCORD watching your back, but the potential gains are far fewer, and slower coming. But even here, the players have a massive stake in the economy. NPC corporations sell most basic modules at a base line price to avoid the market going totally stupid, but advanced modules and better deals can only be obtained by players. Plus there just too few NPC's that quite frequently you'll find the module (Ship upgrade) that you want at a cheaper price from an NPC, but is it worth the long trip to get to it? It's all very well balanced.
