community background

EVE Online

EVE Online
Amoni P's avatar
Amoni P

When I "won EVE" five years ago, I thought I was done with EVE Online forever. There are so many incredible games out there and that's not even getting into my own game design work which has helped raise millions for causes around the world. But about two years ago I was playing No Man's Sky which is a very fun game and felt something was missing. There's very little risk involved. Sure, you can lose a ship, but in the later stages of the game the NPC enemies are just no match for your S-tier ship with entirely S-tier ship parts. I tried playing Elite Dangerous and while I enjoyed the community (they have an Out of Gas rescue service that reminded me of EVE Scout Rescue), the PVP in that game was garbage and there was a massive amount of grind that just wasn't even a tiny bit fun. The nail in the coffin for me on Elite Dangerous was when I learned that you couldn't gank hauling ships because they could just log out instantly (I'm told this has since been made a big no-no).

I tried playing a variety of space flight simulator-type games: Chorvs (Chorus) was a beautiful game but incredibly boring after about an hour. I tried Rebel Galaxy which felt like it was trying to be EVE Online but for single player? It was kinda cool, but the graphics were horribly dated and reminded of EVE Online circa 2005. It was also just really boring after a few hours. In fact, I realized that Rebel Galaxy was essentially everything I hate in EVE Online: PVE content. I had an EVE Online-shaped hole in my heart, but alas I was not an EVE Online player anymore. Do you know what I missed most? Space trucking. I have both European and American Trucking Simulator and I love them both, but those are chill games about patience and good vibes while trying to make a living as an independent trucker. I tried diving back into Star Trek Online since I, a) love Star Trek, and b) have a lifetime subscription for the game and sadly I just couldn’t get into it. All the people I had played that game with had moved on from the game or were unreachable.

The thing that I needed, the thing that made EVE Online exciting and fun was how dangerous it was to do space trucking. At any time, on any given route I could encounter an enterprising ganker who has it in their brain to pop my ship. Sure, if that happened I would be pretty bummed, but the risk made every successful run that much more thrilling. Without the threat of losing my ship, even in “safe” places like highsec, hauling stuff around New Eden would be the most boring activity you could dream up. It is precisely one of the things that separates EVE Online from other MMOs, the fact that PVP can happen anywhere at any time that gives it an edge.

FirestormGamingTeam's avatar
FirestormGamingTeam

The question of gaming often comes up in terms of what game is best and why it's best, or even good, but the answers are often laced with emotion. So for this post, I am going to show why I chose this game.

  1. My introduction to this game was by pure luck, it was simply a question to an ex-friend asking "Oh what's that you're playing" he showed me, taught me what little he knew, and I stated playing.

  2. My teammate DemonGateUk, whom I met via Eve Online, is now one of my best friends IRL and godfather to several of my children. One of my longest friendships to date was done and made through Eve Online.

  3. My main content on YouTube is done through Eve Online and was done to help people learn Eve Online and to help our corporation Evil Monkey Asylum, teach the basics to new players etc.

  4. I once had a girlfriend I met through Eve Online which lasted for 4 months before we separated.

  5. Eve Online put me on the map and gave me my community.

Eve Online is a game in which a player can lose themselves in a massive world, in which the path you take is fully set and done by you, your name is what makes you, who you are. Your actions make you, unlike most games where you can cause absolute hell and then change your name to hide, in Eve Online, this is not the path you can take in Eve Online.

Friendships can be made in this game which actually lasts a lifetime, the people you fly with, become the very people you rely on to have your back, trust is a very big thing in Eve Online, its about knowing the people you fly with, who they really are, often comms becomes a first name basis, instead of using in-game names.

Meet-ups become an actual thing within alliances and corporations, such as meeting at a pub etc, just to chat about current events, tactics, or just the corporation in general. People find out they live close or within a decent distance and meet up and become IRL friends etc.

The very game itself is tactically sound, it's beautiful and well constructed, and it has its share of problems like any game but, the game is about time invested and knowing what you can get out of it, but also making long-term plans for your goals over those of others, but its also the first kind of game where the collective goal always gets put first over the personal goal.

Eve Online is a game I feel personally every gamer should at least try once, but give it a good go rather than just a five-minute play. The very nature of the game is what sets it apart from the other games, It is personal with its players, and the nature of huge space battles where the players are logged in for 12+ hours with multiple accounts shows a real dedication to the game itself and to its corporation/alliances and shows the sheer scale of loyalty this game inspires of its players.

This is my view of Eve Online.

Rixx Javix's avatar
Rixx Javix

My reasons for starting to play Eve Online are incredibly personal. Back in 2008 I was in the middle of a nasty divorce, setting up a new home, and learning to be a single Father to my then 14 year old Son. In the midst of all of that, my Son called me to his room one evening and showed me something that had just been released for playing on our Macintosh computers - Eve Online. All he knew at that moment was that it was an MMO (which I had only heard about) and that it was made by a company in Iceland.

It was also a rare opportunity for us to play together in the same universe at the same time. I immediately went downstairs to my home office and downloaded the game. Since all I knew at the time was that it was made by an Icelandic company, I named my character after the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik - Rixx Javix.

For the first few years I played the game essentially following him around the universe. With my limited playing time back in those days, Eve Online became something we could share together. Talk about together and plan together. We both grew up together inside the game and shared countless adventures. And Eve helped bring us closer during a time when we both really needed to be closer as Father and Son.

During those early years I often stepped in to protect him from the more aggressive elements of the game. But I also took pride in watching him step up and increasingly defend himself. We didn't always fly together, often we'd part ways in-game to explore various aspects of the game. But whenever one of us got involved in something that seemed especially interesting, we'd end up teaming up once again.

Sixteen years later and we both continue to play the game together. He is now 30 years old and happily married, with a home of his own. (Not five minutes from my house!) And yet we co-founded Stay Frosty together and he regularly FCs fleets. These days it is him that doesn't always have time to play and I have all the time in the world to not only explore the game itself, but my always expanding role within the larger community as well. But we still have something in common to talk about and share. Together.

For this reason (and many more) Eve Online will always be my primary gaming adventure and she has earned the special place she has in my heart. Eve has served a rather unique role in my life and helped me build an even closer relationship with my Son. And for that I will be forever grateful.

Toretto 70's avatar
Toretto 70

First time I just try playing game and I think it was a good game because EVE Online is open world galaxy so I can explore

I
i37

I started playing EVE because I love physics and economics. EVE deploys both well, and wraps them up in something beautiful to look at.

FUN INC's avatar
FUN INC

EVE has been a bit of a journey for me.

I first got into EVE through my girlfriend (shes now my wife). Her brother has suggested that we both might like EVE online. My Mrs started playing, and so i was curious as to what the game was. I've never been a "gamer" (note parenthesis), and to be fair, EVE looked very visually stunning and whatnot, but as a player / spectator sport it just doesn't really sell itself as a game (cinematic trailers etc do, but actual gameplay as a noob starting out really doesn't)

I started out exactly as others did - mining, missioning, all things PVE and not a lot more. To be fair, it was fun, i kinda enjoyed the "therapeutic" nature of the highsec mining and so on. I wasn't really too engaged in the game though.

Anyhow, one day at work, I mentioned EVE to a work collague and another one overheard and mentioned that he had heard of EVE so i told him a little bit about it and he said he'd try it out. We duo'd up a few times to work together mining and missioning and not a lot more happened beyond that. I went about my day to day mining and ratting and missioning making a small amount of iskies.

Around 8 months later, my work colleague told me that he was heading into nullsec with a group of players - it sounded pretty daunting to me - i was still pretty new to playing - by now, maybe 18 months or so at this time? Anyhow - i digress. What started out as a roam in frigates ended up turning into something very very different... and unique. Those band of pilots formed a group - a corporation - called Agony Unleashed and started running a PVP (player versus player) training university. The Agony Unleashed PVP basic class was born.

My pal mentioned to me what they were doing - basically teaching people how to PVP - and i didnt really know what that meant, but thought I'd give it a go anyway. So i dropped into Stacmon on a Saturday night X'd up and joined the fleet and i believe our instructor - i think it was Ripard - took us out and we learnt about PVP mechanics, trasversal velocities, gun tracking, spiralling - it was an absolute blast and massively eye-opening for me about a whole area of the game that i had literally zero understanding of. That was before we had even done the PVP roam.

The roam was an absolute blast - it was amazing fun. We killed loads of ships, and worked as a team, and it was something that i hd never ever experienced. Any game i had played had been shoot em ups, or racing games, and were never really collaborative - or generally were solo or duo - the was seomthing else.

I loved it.

Since then, i joined Ghost in the Machine - a group of close friends from agony unleashed personally invited me to corp, and we acted as cloaky sneaky weasels generally doing cloaky weaselly things aound New Eden. It was absolutely awesome.

From their i eventually joined Agony Unleashed - it was a long time coming.... and I've never looked back.

My character is 100% PVP and has been focussed on collaborative expereiences with awesome people. It doesnt matter waht i fly, but i strive to do it with people and become friends. This game has taught me the power of people and expereience, and learning.

Eventually Agony Unleashed shut up shop, and i ummed and aahed about quitting EVE in 2018. I am so glad that I didnt. People are inherently awesome. But people need to be engaged otherwise they get bored. So i set up FUN INC - Even Better With Friends and eventually the public NPSI calendar NPSI Community Gateway

I FC twice a week , and so I've run probably more than 1500 public fleets now, been to fanfest numerous times, presented at fanfest twice, fc'd at Fanfest, laods of other really cool things - not just benefitting the gaming community, but also the childrens hospital in Rek that we have donated more than £4K (from memory) to through the NPSI raffle.

The rest is history.

So why EVE you ask?

EVE is amazing.

Where can you find a game that can take you from sitting on your own with fairly low self esteem, confidence and belief in your abilities, in a room in East London to running a community website with a discord of nearly 3K people on. EVE is forever giving me satisfaction. I wish that i people realised how much I have gotten from this community.

CMDR Henckes's avatar
CMDR Henckes

EVE still is a very hard game to me, I give so much pauses from tem game but there is something that always drags me back. I always have been super close with space games and space themed games, so EVE looked a real deal to me, the tutorial was ok, but try to go forward by myself was painful I’ve created a lot of characters to start again and try to do it right I still trying to understand its economics until today sometimes it looks like it isn’t a game for me but I love to challenger myself. 

The first thing I tried to do was exploration and I discovered that I have to know how to fight sometimes when exploring some dangerous places, and the combat I am still not good at it, a lot better than the last time I played but no good. Salvaging and trading was never the most enjoyable thing for me but I think I can manage it very well. I think I have to try it again these days since there are some weeks I stop playing again and I think I will try it again. The universe that was created called New Eden is full of surprise and it must be explored at its limits 

Over the times I played it, I noticed that what makes me play it isn’t the same as the other space games that make me play them. There are a lot of similar things but EVE makes you parte of its universe, your actions are important for the development of the New Eden. And if you are a dedicated player your efforts will be noticed and that is the main thing that keeps me trying to learn this amazing MMO, be part of the community, to get new ships, improve your fleet doing missions are amazing features but they are just complementary tools for the proposal of the game.

Limal's avatar
Limal

Please don’t laugh, but I genuinely believe EVE Online can be a family-friendly game.

No, I’m not suggesting forcing your kids to mine in Hulks while you sit comfortably in a Rorqual, nothing like that!

The game's pace and the variety of activities it offers can align surprisingly well with the home routines and responsibilities of a young parent. In fact, EVE is one of the few games that allows you to be deeply engaged without demanding constant attention, making it perfect for players lesrning family life.

The beauty of EVE lies in its flexibility. It can be highly intense and action-packed when you want it to be, with massive PvP battles, gate camps, and combat site runs requiring full attention. These are perfect for those moments when you have the time to dive fully into the action. But the game also allows for a more laid-back experience,like managing planetary interaction, station trading,AFK mining, or overseeing production lines. When life gets basy with kids or household routines.

What makes EVE even more unique is that you don’t always need to be actively logged into the game to still feel productive. For instance, I often find myself at work running calculations in Excel, planning my evening activities in-game. Others may spend time adjusting ship fits in tools like EFT, tinkering with various setups, or browsing forums and Reddit to handle recruitment, propaganda, or diplomatic affairs. All of this allows players to stay engaged with the game even when life is demanding.

As a parent, I appreciate how EVE Online respects my time. When I need to step away, I know I can leave a mining fleet running or manage production lines in the background. This flexibility means I can attend to family responsibilities, like cooking or helping with homework, without feeling like I’m neglecting my gaming experience. EVE lets you choose how involved you want to be at any given moment. It's like having a game that adaptts to your schedule, rather than demanding you rearrange your life to fit the game.

Another significant aspect of EVE’s appeal is its depth. It’s not just about clicking buttons and watching things happen; it’s about making decisions that affect the long-term progression of your character and assets.

This is where the game truly shines. It allows players, even those with family responsibilities, to enjoy deep, strategic gameplay without feeling left behind if they can't play for extended periods. Unlike more fast-paced games with seasons and expansions, where taking a break could set you back significantly, EVE lets you come back even after a 10 years break.

This is probably why EVE Online has retained its player base for decades. Life stages and changing circumstances often affect how players interact with the game. As you grow, your approach to EVE evolves.

For some, it's a hyperfocused experience, while for others, it becomes a relaxing side activity. The game isn’t static, and each pilot maps out their own journey, navigating the vast universe on their own terms.

It’s adaptable, versatile, and, in my opinion, the perfect game for anyone balancing family life and gaming.

I
iBeast

EvE Online is a very multifaceted project with a huge history, bringing together a variety of players.

It is no secret that the game community can be divided into many groups, including players who may not leave the station for years engaged in trade or production. At the same time, there are completely opposite players who are low sec pirates, 0.0 claim fighters or players who gathering variety of resourses. There is a place for everyone in the game and this is its uniqueness, and all players harmoniously complement each other making the world really alive.

Personally, I like the game because with over 20 years of existence, the game has retained a huge variety of hardcore and challenging mechanics. It has the spirit of the old games, with which I once began my acquaintance with MMORPGs. Although over the years there are a lot of adaptations to the modern player, there are still a lot of really complex elements, which are sometimes very much tied to the game society.

Hardcore is also manifested in the fact that you never feel safe. We can list a lot of mechanics, thanks to which players have adapted to the difficulties, but the random filament on your head with a small-scale fleet or gankers in high secs, as well as + signature in WH makes the gameplay sometimes very adrenaline and makes you always be in concentration. This is very cleverly intertwined with the game world, in which sometimes as if nothing happens, and then a minute and you are already a participant in some story, in which you can lose everything. Naturally all this is well complemented by full loot PvP and such a very difficult to find in other games.

JHenckes's avatar
JHenckes

The first time I came across EVE Online was when I was looking for a new futuristic online game to play. It's always been one of my favorite genres, I remember when I played with spaceships as a kid. Anyway, I ended up buying the game and got some tips from a friend from school (I was in high school at the time), who encouraged me to start playing. He told me that the game had a ruthless economy, driven by the players, its epic space battles and the infamous stories of betrayal and cooperation on a galactic scale (I don't even need to tell you how much he loved the game, right? Hahaha). He told me that each player could chart their own path in all sorts of ways, and that's what attracted me. The possibility of having an online game as rich as he told me about won me over before I even played it!

I was as humble as any other new player: a simple miner, trying to earn some ISK in the high-security systems, avoiding the pirates and trying to scrape together enough money to buy better ships. But what really struck me wasn't the game's universe, or even the complex gameplay that kept me trying to learn more. It was that moment when I realized how much the game resembled life, the real risks, the real consequences and the real people behind the ships.

The first turning point came when I decided to move from the high security space to the low security space. I had saved up to buy a new cruiser, asked my high school friend for help and thought I was ready (I had been playing for a few weeks, I felt very experienced). It was a gamble. The adrenaline rush of flying through these systems, never knowing who might be waiting, was like nothing else I'd ever played. Of course, many games have places where PVP is allowed, but in EVE I had a different feeling! But the worst happened. I was ambushed, attacked and torn apart by a group of pirates before I even blinked. The loss was staggering, not just because of the value of ISK, but because of the time and effort I had invested. It was like being robbed in broad daylight, and I felt it.

But that's when EVE came into my life. It wasn't just a game where you were reborn and tried again. There were real losses, and the victories tasted much sweeter because of it. I licked my wounds and sought revenge, not directly, but by learning, then joining a corporation and becoming part of something bigger. That's when EVE really became special.

My corporation wasn't an arbitrary collection of players; it was a community (my friend already had colleagues and even people he befriended in the game, these people were in the corporation and made everything more fun). We planned together, contributed what we could and, in due course, began to help each other be present in the low-security space. So the happy feeling of securing our first major victory against a rival corporation's mining operation was incredible. All that planning, waiting and rewarding made me realize that EVE isn't about personal achievements; it's about collective effort. Each ship that goes into battle represents someone's time and dedication. The fact that everyone is a friend makes this help even more present.

It's this sense of unpredictability that has kept me playing EVE over the years. You never know for sure what's going to happen when you land. You could be on a simple mining operation and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a huge fleet...

EVE Online made a difference to me because it taught me about the value of persistence, community and the thrill of uncertainty. It was more than just a game to me. It brought me the first experience of socialization that I'd never had before, since it's with games that these interactions can seem grandiose, and being immersed in it makes it more fun, makes us want to learn and play more and has meant that I've been playing EVE for 9 years now with very few times leaving the game aside, always following the updates.

CelestialFlea's avatar
CelestialFlea

Why Eve?

That’s quite a question, and I don’t think there’s really any one answer, it’s a lot of things for a lot of different people. That’s what makes Eve so unique, people love it for their own reasons. But for me, it’s the thrill of the unknown. 

Eve is the thrill of finding 150m worth of loot in a single relic can in a ship worth less than a million, wondering whether you’ll make it back to highsec or not as you warp to the wormhole shaking with excitement. You made it to high-security space, but now you have to make it to a trade hub, the nearest is Jita 4/4. The moment of truth you make it into the system, but you don’t know if you’re going to get ganked at the gate as you align while letting your cloak run out. You make it to the station but then you see your ship be locked as you repeatedly smash dock.

Eve is the thrill of an Astero popping up on d-scan then launching probes as you wait silently at a site. Are they scanning the site down? You see the probes close in within 1 au, are they going to come or go to the other wormhole first? They warp in and your hands start to shake, you see them hack the can and your palms get sweaty. Do you wait, or let them bring you the loot, but maybe they already scanned the others? You decloak and go for the kill, your heart racing. Will they fight back? Is it bait? That’s the thrill, you don’t know..but you still do it anyway. There’s no other thrill like it in any game.

Eve is the thrill of destroying a blingy ship in low-security space in nothing more than a frigate worth a couple mil at best with a couple of your mates after roaming for hours and finding nothing. You know you’ll probably win the fight, yet you still get shakes.

Eve is the thrill of barely escaping a fight with no more than 2hp of health left, whether you won the fight or decided to leg it.

Eve is the thrill of ninja huffing a C3 gas site, right up until the sleepers spawn. You have no idea if the site has already been activated, you’ve no idea if someone is already waiting there. You see the value of your cargo tick up, the rats could spawn any minute, a player could come any minute. You get distracted for a few minutes, looking away from your screen and all you see when you look back is a sea of red. You barely escape thanks to the quick align time.


Why Eve? Because this is what makes Eve, Eve. The thrill of the unknown, everytime you undock could be a different adventure. Maybe it’s dull and boring or you could return with shaking, sweaty palms and enough loot to pay for your ship a hundred times over. Eve is one of the true, few sandboxes out there where emergent gameplay is encouraged, whether that comes in the form of skullduggery, thievery and elaborate schemes, having fun with mates or working with other players towards a common goal. You never quite know.


Sturmer's avatar
Sturmer
CelestialFlea

You can get sweaty hands even while docked Jita 4-4, market's ups and downs and rivals can pump your beat too =)

CelestialFlea's avatar
CelestialFlea
Sturmer

I did think about including that but that's more a gradual build up of sweat, more like foreplay than a huge burst of adrenaline and shakes. You could argue moon goo can have the same effect on some players too. Giggidy. But to me it's miserably boring.

orik Kado's avatar
orik Kado

My interest in EVE began in 2018 after seeing a Facebook post. Out of simple curiosity, I decided to look up information and naturally came across many videos about the game. Everything I found was simply amazing: the stories, the lore, the organization, but above all, the industry and mining. At that time, I dreamed of doing it all—mining, reprocessing, manufacturing, and selling (which is not easy for a new player). Over time, I learned and started focusing on what I wanted and could actually do. I made many friends, and now it's just hard to imagine a day without at least logging in to say hi to my corp mates <3.

Kane Carnifex's avatar
Kane Carnifex

EVE:Online May 2003World of Warcraft September 2004

From there it took another 10 Years until Kane Carnifex was born.
So if you didn't fail that hard in math 2003 + 10 makes 2013.

My now rotten seed…

In the beginning it was the fact which everything in this universe has a real life (rl) value.
Which means plexes could be bought by rl money and be sold ingame for ISK.
Therefore a ship which costs ISK can be converted into rl money.
This gives feelings into both ways by killing or losing it.
So for me my ships had a personal value as their cost got higher.

Total: 8,642,878.75 ISK
Hover over: $0.20 / 0.15€ / £0.12

A new leaf…

With the knowledge of the others, the game becomes easier.
You running DED 10/10, take this Fitting it will run this site easily.
With the ISK floating into my pocket the confidence grew sitting in these expensive ships.
But i wasn´t ready to lose them yet for “maybe I can delete the tackle in time”...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZL6nWc7W7mw?feature=oembed

From taking lessons to actually create a "speedrun" for the 10/10 Gurista Escalation.
~12 Minutes

Is this a fruit?!

Fanfest in Amsterdam, some Player is showing his Trading Chart of Antimatter M.
He does this in real life… and EVE is his playground. He trade in trillions and major rule in EVE is which Items can´t go bad and therefore you sell it when it goes up again. ( Comes time comes change, some event stuff just expires)
From there I had my finger on trading as well Fanfests xD

Trees?! I am a shroom mycelium now.

You can't outgrow EVE, because it is growing with you.
And some tasks you can only master after time passes by.
So step after step you think you reached the top, to just find another stairway to heaven…

My <3 points:

  • Server is running over 20 Years in a single Instance World Wide.
    No Region to choose
    No Data Reset (as far as i know :P)

  • Friendship & Fanfest
    Sometimes words are rough, but we bounded to our stuff

  • My ongoing Quest of Logis on Killmails
    Kane Carnifex prevented 50k Damage via remote rep.
    Top three Logis of this Killmail.

    Reference to: Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam

Ahh Tournaments :P

6 vs 10 (Cambion Style) (Fun Match)

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/773727408?t=1h36m20s


6vs10 (Warlords, ex camel) (Fun Match)

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/723187442?t=1h12m15s

And than we have "Just About" which is a total new thingi within EVE Universe.

<3 See ya space cowboy

JB
Josh B

I'm brand new to Eve. Obviously had heard of the game and seen numerous gameplay clips beforehand but in all honesty, it's been the hype and amount of interest in it here on @JustAbout that's actually got me into it.

The sheer scope of the game and the huge number of elements; from combat, exploration and trading, to mining and piracy. The game is vast and allows for near endless possibilities and lifespan of gaming goodness.

It does feel a little overwhelming having so many different things to do in such a massive game but that's all part of the fun, and I hope time goes on I'll continue to grow into it and become a more established contributor here on JA!

emoji

Rewards (and other cool stuff) inside!

Not only are there great bounty submissions to check out, but some of the best conversations on the internet are happening here - and our members are getting rewarded for having them. Don't miss out!

sunglasses emojiemoji pointing left
Join now
◤
Related bounties

Communities

Just About

Video Games

Elite Dangerous

SMITE 2

EVE Online

Minecraft

Nightingale

Pokémon

Content Creators

Film & TV

Tech

Books & Comics

Music

Sport

There’s more to love

Help shape the future of our platform as we build the best place to express and enjoy your passions, whatever they may be.

Join now
Emoji

© Just About Community Ltd. 2024