EVE Online is not your normal MMO. You do not gain experience, there are no levels, you do not raise your skills by doing mind-numbing tasks over and over. In EVE, the only thing that limits your character's power and options is time. Skills in EVE are trained at a rate of real-time hours, days, or even weeks for the more advanced skills. Other than only being able to train 1 skill at a time, and certain skills having requirements that must be met, there are no limits to what your character can do. If you want to master every skill in the game, you can, but be prepared to wait a long, long time as it would take, literally, years.

As far as things to do, EVE has plenty. If you want action, there's plenty to be found once you have a few skills and some credits to get you into a better ship. If you want goals and direction, there's an entire galaxy filled with factions and their agents waiting to give you missions. If you want trade, there's mining, salvage, manufacturing, invention, material processing, and, of course, supply and demand. And if you want to feel like you belong to something larger than yourself, there are plenty of user-made and run corporations for you to join and work for towards whatever goals they may have.

For all it's good points, though, EVE does have some problems. Getting started is difficult as the game is so different than others. Gameplay is simple at first, but there are layers and layers that soon begin to complicate things. The game is unforgiving, sure you can have a clone and insurance on your ship, but these usually don't cover all the damage a death may bring, which is all too easy to find. Getting money is usually either very difficult or extremely boring, and the player controller areas can be downright brutal.

Overall, though, if you have the patience to learn all the ins and outs, and plenty of time to devote to building a solid financial foothold, then EVE might just be the perfect game for you.

Learning Curve: Takes a while

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