Eve Online – A Great Sandbox Game

Eve Online - Space Opera

Space is the last frontier as they say it, and we’re beginning to master its mysteries through technological advancements. One day we might even put up a fully functional space colony. According to some scientists, if we can continue with our current pace, then we will see a whole new future within the next 150 years. My hunch is a colony on Mars, but it can be something else like Terraforming, wherein a whole planet can be altered according to our biological makeup. So, we can survive there like it is our own Earth.   

Anyway, all these futuristic ideas came to me when I played an online game that really depicts the life of a star traveller. It’s a great game entitled Eve Online, wherein warp jumps and wormholes are an everyday experience. You can choose any path you like; you can be a merchant, miner, bounty hunter, pirate or even a CEO of a space corporation. It all depends on the skills you have, and the best part of it all – you don’t learn those skills through reading. Though you may need to buy several skills books, all the learning is done by injecting those skills directly to your brain. 

This particular game is famous for its cutthroat PVP environment, there is no safe space – and I mean that literally. Anyone can get ganked (destroyed) anywhere, and so the excitement is quite exhilarating as well as the risk factor is far much greater than any other theme park mmo. There are also various types of ships you can choose from; starting from a lowly frigate to the biggest ship on the game - the Titan. Eve Online was produced and developed by CCP, a company based on Iceland. They published this game on 2003, when they were still a small Indy online gaming company. Eve became their holy grail, as many gamers love their concept –   the no holds barred, no care bear type of mmo.  If you lose a ship, then you lose it forever and those conditions are quite harsh sometimes.

However, a large portion of matured gamers supported this idea, and from the beginning they followed Eve Online and help it grow until it reached the status of a Triple-A MMO, with a sizeable gaming community on its belt, it remains a notable force in the industry. And through the years, it made a lot of updates that aimed to produce a truly enjoyable game. It is also a community-centric game, because most of their updates came from the requests of the community. Within a few years, they also made some major graphical updates. The space environment is much alive and realistic; you can really feel the presence of the cosmos when you immersed yourself on the game.

If you become interested about this game, there are a few things you need to know. First, it has a very steep learning curve; you will really need the help of a corporation (guild). So, find a good corp that will guide you through the game or until you know your way around. And like any other MMO out there, play moderately – Eve Online is one of those games that can really be addicting.  

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