For anyone who has never played or seen EVE I will 1st say this. EVE is not your normal MMO. EVE hearkens back to games like Elite and Privateer as well as the X universe series(space based trade and combat games). With that said the 1st thing that I noticed as a new player to Eve was the user interface, and boy is there a lot of it. The UI for EVE is unique because it is very configurable and for the most part except for a small part of it it can be setup as needed. This comes in handy as it is very intuitive basically if you have used a modern computer you will understand how the windows work and should be able to view the info you need. Speaking of information EVE is loaded with it almost bombards you with information from the start but new players should not fear as every window you pull up has a welcome screen that gives you a brief outline of what is in the windows as well as links to tutorials on how to use them.
Ok, enough about 1st impressions on to the game play. When you begin the game as a new player you go through an in depth character creation process where you create you character portrait which has a fair share of options which allows you to create your image as other players see you. Its important to setup your portrait because this is the only way other than your starship that other will see you in game. The rest of the character creation process evolves choosing your race and then setting up your background by selecting where you character originates as well as selecting their training. EVE doesn't have any character classes so how you setup your character in creation effects you in the future but you are not locked into playing a particular type of character like in other games.
Now that we have our character are spawned in the newbie star base the location of which depends on you choices during character creation. Now that we are in the star base this is the 1st time we get to see our rookie ship which is not much but it yours, we also get to meet the AI thats riding around in our pod to help through the early stages of the game. The introduction to how everything works is done by way of a voiced tutorial. I recommend that new players follow this tutorial because EVE is very different from any other MMO and not following the tutorial you will miss a lot specially how to navigate and fight. The tutorial also help you establish contacts with your agents an possibly even get you into your second ship.
Well thats a very brief run through of how to get into the game. Currently I am working on a Gallente Pilot that is currently working the Essence area. Right now my character is busy running missions and building up skills. Speaking of skills that is another interesting part of EVE, skills are earned over time even when you are not online. It takes a minute to get your head around it but basically you select a skill that you already know or your buy a skill book from the market and you then train. The nice thing is you can interrupt skills being trained and you don't lose any of the training already spent on it. Its very handy when you need to learn a new level 1 skill from a book to pause a higher level skill that will take hours to learn. So the smart player sets up a long skill to train while off line and then works on any short learning skills while online.
Overall I will say that after 3 days of EVE off an on while playing Tabula Rasa I can see why player sometime call EVE a "slow burn" kind of game. Its a game where you are in for the long haul but there are things to do while you are getting there. I am also impressed by how much of the game is player run. I have read many interview with CCP (the makers of EVE-Online) that their goal was to provide the tools and environment for the players to do as they see fit. This is why EVE has one of the greatest communities of all MMOs.
Hopefully in the next week I can get some screen shots up for my characters as well as some images of my Table Top armies. I would also like to point out that I am still playing Infinity every week and enjoying the heck out of that game my army still need some work but it will all be painted soon. I am also looking into getting in a RPG group as a player because I do miss that aspect of gaming the only problem is that currently in this area its kind of a DnD world with few people willing to branch out....and I personally cannot stand the current incarnation of DnD. On a even greater tangent I am actually looking a selling some of my FoW troops to get into another game Heavy Gear Blitz its still just a thought though.
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