Eve Online is a player-driven persistent-world massively multiplayer online game set in a science fiction space setting. Players pilot customizable ships through a universe comprising over five thousand solar systems. Players of Eve Online are able to participate in any number of in-game professions and activities, including mining, manufacturing, trade and combat (both player versus environment and player versus player). The range of activities available to the player is facilitated by a character advancement system based upon training skills in real time, even while not logged in to the game.
It is developed and maintained by the Icelandic company CCP Games. The current version of Eve Online is dubbed Empyrean Age.
Universe
The playing environment in Eve Online consists of over five thousand star systems, almost all of which can be visited by the player. (See section Security index system for more information). In some solar systems a player might be alone. Occasionally a player may even stumble across a historic site, e.g. one where another player's Titan-class ship was destroyed and the wreck now floats in space.
As a result, new players are generally unable to gain more skillpoints than existing players who continue to train but this is reduced somewhat by a diminishing returns policy for training higher skill levels. Each skill has 5 steps, or levels and the time required to train a skill to a particular level is determined by the player's attributes and how many skill points a certain skill requires, determined by a skill's rank. Low-rank skills trained to a low level may represent a few minutes of training whereas high levels of high-rank skills may represent several months of training.
Since training time is directly related to a character's attributes, a player can lower the training time of skills by training "Learning" skills, as well as by using Implants to boost attributes.
Due to the sheer number of skills available to characters, it is not realistic for a character to acquire perfect skills with all ships and weapons systems.
Economy
An example of Eve Online's in-game market screen.
Players can barter between themselves for items, use the in-game market system for ISK-based transactions, place and accept contracts between players for assets and services or use a Loyalty Points store.
A large proportion of the in-game economy is player driven; Non-player character merchants supply some basic blueprints, items and trade goods. The economy is closely tied with the (also player driven) political aspect of the game. Player corporations (the Eve equivalent of guilds) rise and fall as they struggle for market dominance as well as territorial control.
Eve's End User Licence Agreement forbids the exchange of ISK for real currency; however there is a secure in-game system for trading "Game Time Codes" (GTC) in exchange for in game currency.
Combat
Fleet combat in Eve. The player can choose to fly the ship directly rather than use the computer controls. Eve's combat system allows ships of all sizes to be useful in combat. The open player versus player combat system, and the tendency for ships to drop some of their cargo and equipment when destroyed, provides incentive for player piracy. Players may even place a bounty on another player's head, providing work for bounty hunters.
Moreover, corporations and alliances have the ability to manufacture Player-Operated Starbases (POS) that mine resources from moons in a system.
Agents
Completion awards the player with ISK and various material goods.
Security index system
CONCORD patrol ships.
Eve features an open PvP system where combat between players can occur anywhere within the Eve Universe. To balance this "free aggression", Eve has implemented a "security index system". Every solar system in the Eve universe has a public security status which ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. Players committing illegal actions within "empire" systems (security status between 0.1 and 1.0) lose personal security standings with CONCORD. As players lose security status, their ability to enter certain levels of secured space becomes more and more limited.
In lawless space (0.0), CONCORD has no influence and the dynamics for player interactions change. A pod floating in space after a player's ship has been destroyed.
In the event that a player's ship is destroyed, a wreck is left behind. Some ships have a market value that is dozens, if not hundreds of times as much as the ship's build cost - as a result, a player who loses such a ship may lose a large investment, with no possibility of indemnification. When a ship is destroyed, the player is ejected in a pod. This player death is known as "pod killing" or "podding". Non-player characters will not attack a pod. Players may purchase an upgraded clone which is used in the event of pod death. When the player dies and is revived in his or her clone, if this clone holds a number of skill points lower than the number the player had at the time of death, then the player will lose a varying amount of skill points.
Ships
Main article: Spaceships of Eve Online
Ships in Eve Online are organized into classes, varying from frigates to titans. Roles and characteristics aside, the concept of ships in Eve Online is different from other massively multiplayer online games in that ships represent players in-game. While Eve Online introduces the players to the idea of avatars, a player's avatar remains a two-dimensional portrait. Players move in-game within their ships and as such are represented by the ship type they choose. CCP is currently developing a feature that will allow players to move freely outside of their ships, represented by three-dimensional avatars.
Players and communities
Players have several options when playing Eve in regards to how they interact with the community.
Corporations and alliances
Corporations may also band together to form alliances. Alliances can control enough star systems that their territory can be plotted on the Eve game map. Players also form corporations for the exclusive task of pirating other players - these corporations are normally referred to as pirate corps. They for example stake out jump points and jump gates waiting for other players to arrive, then destroy and loot their ships. As of October 2006 the average age of an Eve Player was 27 of which 95% male, and 5% female. As of 31 December 2007, Eve Online has 220,000 active subscriptions and 45,000 active trial accounts.
Beginning in March 2006, CCP and its partner Optic Communications started working to bring Eve Online to the Chinese gaming audience.
Player tournaments
Eve TV provided live in-game footage of the battles along with expert commentary. Eve TV was produced and hosted primarily by DJs from Eve-Radio (a player-run streaming radio station) with resources provided by CCP. According to the developers Eve Online evolved from the classic computer game Elite, combined with the multi player chat and player versus player aspects of Ultima Online. On March 14, 2006, the Eve Online development team announced that they would be upgrading the graphics engine of Eve Online to a DirectX 10 / Windows Vista graphics platform.
Third-party applications and the Eve API Project
A large number of third-party applications have arisen to supplement a player's Eve Online experience. Main article: Expansions of Eve Online
From the release of Eve Online until today CCP has added nine expansions to the game. Over time expansions have added features such as conquerable stations, ship classes like Freighter and Dreadnought capital ships and advanced missions for players to master.
Planned future developments
CCP have recently begun work on implementing a game feature that will allow players to exit pods and interact with other player avatars in the communal setting of the interior of a station. Piracy (in the ship-to-ship sense) is part of the game, as is protection racketeering and theft. Since the release of Eve Online there has been proven developer as well as player-corporation misconduct, leading to debates and controversy within the Eve community. On February 9, 2007, a player known as Kugutsumen revealed that an Eve Online developer nicknamed 't20' had provided his in-game alliance, Band of Brothers, with ten valuable blueprints, giving them an advantage over competing corporations.
Cost
The latter method allows relatively advanced players to play the game without paying real money - a player may buy a GTC for real money and then sell it to another player in-game for ISK. Game Time Codes are available through CCP's online store as well as via online resellers. The Eve Online Buddy Program[ was created so that full-subscription players of Eve Online could distribute 14-day free trial accounts to their friends. The Eve Online website offers 14-day trial periods, Steam offers 21-day trial periods. In both cases trial accounts are free and allow players to access most of the Eve Online game, with exceptions. Trial accounts cannot train certain skills for some advanced ship types, for example industrial ships. Trial accounts cannot create contracts and cannot directly transfer ISK to other players. Eve Online Trial Accounts can be upgraded to full paid accounts in two ways. The alternative way is to subscribe using an Eve Game Time Card (ETC or GTC). GTCs upgrade a trial account to a full account and activate the account for the specified game time.
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