Online game "EVE Online"

EVE Online is a legendary and iconic game. The largest and most popular space MMO in history, played simultaneously by tens of thousands of users from all over the world. They arrange the most grandiose in the history of network games battles between the clans, cheat, betray and sell, make the most expensive virtual property purchases and generally live by the laws of real life - and the developers on principle try not to interfere. That's why EVE Online is surrounded by rumors and legends. So what is it like? How to play it and how interesting it is to do it today, 19 years after its release?

Indeed, EVE Online came out back in 2003, and before that the Icelandic studio CCP Games had been working on the concept for several years. The idea to create a similar space MMO, the only one of its kind, where players live their own lives and determine what happens in the universe on thousands of star systems, was born by several Icelandic guys back in the mid-90s. They were inspired by the cult space game Elite, where you can freely sail the galaxy, trade, hunt pirates, mine ore, and so on

To raise money for this seemingly insane concept, they created the board game Danger Game, which was very popular in their homeland - this allowed them to create CCP Games and start working on EVE Online. However, the idea was too ambitious to make everything fast and easy - as a result the game was remade 11 (!) times, had been in the alpha-version stage for a long time, and finally, in May 2003, there was a full-fledged release. And right away the foundations of the game were laid - EVE Online let you freely explore a vast world of over 7000 (!) star systems and over 60 (!!) planets, trade, work for different factions, hunt pirates or become one, mine resources, produce ships and modules for them, spy or steal, create corporations and alliances, join them and fight for the territory.

Naturally, with such volumes and ambitions it was impossible to get everything up and running at once. After the official release the developers continued to actively work on fixing bugs and optimization - because of the huge number of users on one server there were constantly "lags" (that is, the game slowed down and worked slowly, with glitches). They set about releasing regular free add-ons that not only fixed something, but also added new features.

Such a level of support and development of the project together with the unique features ensured EVE Online a great popularity, a lot of awards, a monument in its homeland, in Reykjavik, inclusion in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. And most importantly - the title of the most massive MMO in history, numbering hundreds of thousands of active players who pay a subscription (the so-called omega status). That's not counting those who use the "alpha status" - a more limited in capabilities, but still allowing you to fully play EVE Online free alpha status. Now the game is available for free not only on the official site, but also on Steam. At first steps, it seems like a regular MMO with a built-in store, constant gifts for newcomers for entering the game and so on. But in fact everything is much deeper and more interesting.

Despite the fact that this is primarily MMO, that is massive online game, EVE Online perfectly worked world, and after the release in 2009 addition Apocrypha (it is considered almost the best) appeared and full-fledged storyline (the so-called epic-arks). Moreover, the EVE Online universe is regularly written books and chronicles that cover, explain and develop the events taking place in this universe - for this CCP Games even maintains a staff of journalists.

Events of the game unfold in a galaxy far from our own, called New Eden. Of course, it is the distant future tens of thousands of years after people began to explore space. And they got to New Eden through a suddenly appeared space-time tunnel (it was called EVE Gate), which led to a rich in resources, but previously unknown area of the universe. Naturally everyone rushed to New Eden in search of wealth and glory - an active colonization and development of this area began. But one day, as a result of a catastrophe EVE Gate also suddenly closed, and all the colonists were cut off from communication with Earth.

But they and their descendants learned how to live and survive, established an economy, organized several large factions. True, life in this area of the universe is marred by constant wars and squabbles over territory and resources, but this is the harsh reality in which the player is immersed right from the start. But first you have to choose one of the four factions to which you will belong.

An island of democracy and liberalism is the Federation of Gallente, where almost everything is run by representatives of the Gallentine race, especially skilled in entertainment, spectacle and trade. Their closest ally is the Minmatar Republic, led by the Minmatar race, who rebelled against the Amarr Empire a century before and were supported by the Gallente Federation. The Minmatar are considered a proud and independent nation.

In turn, the Amarr Empire is the largest, most religious, militant and confident in its own superiority over others. Here everyone is subject to the Emperor and does not mind using slaves. But in the State of Caldari, several mega-corporations are in charge, with no centralized power system. The corporations own the states and planets that make up the Caldari, and they don't get along with each other - the laws of severe capitalism rule here, and above all, loyalty to the corporation you serve is valued.

The choice of faction determines the available ships, as well as the region where we start the game as a "capsuleer" - so they call those whose consciousness even if defeated in battle is saved in a digitized form and then transferred back to a new ship. In any case, everyone chooses one of the four factions at the beginning, gender and start out on a small starship. In principle, you can do whatever you want right away. But it's better to start looking for agents after training, designed to help you get used to the key roles you can play in EVE Online - no matter which faction you belong to.

And there are four such roles - explorers (think scouts), industrialists, warriors and the so-called "soldiers of fortune", which are focused primarily on active participation in battles with other players. Tasks there are appropriate - fighters destroy enemies to order, explorers learn to use reconnaissance probes to search for artifacts and treasures, as well as penetrate into hidden areas and collect valuable data or even attack those who are trying to hide. And "industrialists" through such missions are shown on their fingers how to engage in resource extraction and processing, as well as the production of ships and modules for them. The more agent missions we complete, the better the relationship with him and the more complex and cool missions become available.

Also, the aforementioned storylines (or "epic arcs") are open almost immediately. But it's better to take them after you master the tasks of the agents - so you can accumulate starting capital, and more or less equip your ship and, most importantly, get used to the basic mechanics of the game. Otherwise, the story missions will seem too complicated.

One of the most famous "epic-arcs" is the story of Sisters of EVE, during which we get acquainted with the largest humanitarian organization in New Eden, which helps the needy, particularly victims of wars and crimes, but also promotes religion and, oddly enough, advanced science - in general, the organization, as they say, with a surprise. Numerous and quite fascinating missions will make you scurry through all corners of New Eden, visiting the territories of the four factions - all to fight in the finale with the main boss, a criminal named Dagan. You'll have to choose which faction you want to help catch him, which will greatly improve your relationship with that faction.

About the roles, which, in fact, are professions, about how the game allows them to develop and pump, it should be said separately - they determine the whole essence of EVE Online, what we will do here. So, the fighters not only hunt for the heads of pirates, but also fight with some of the most powerful bandits in the unstable parts of the Dead Abyss - here you need to have time to overcome all the enemies, before space collapsed, absorbing the player's ship along with the loot.

They also occasionally have to repel attacks on New Eden by the Sansha Nation, whose ships infiltrate through wormholes and try to take over the system. Somewhere they can be handled by a few ships, but often pilots have to team up in squads of 40-60 players to repel an invasion in a particular area - you can always see where the Sanshi Nation is attacking the system and rush to the aid of the others. If you wish, players are free not to hunt pirates, but rather to work for pirate corporations - to do this you need to strengthen relationships with them by completing special chains of quests.

Industrialists are engaged in a variety of activities - they can, for example, transport cargo on courier contracts with other players, manufacture modules and ships from the collected materials, dismantle wreckage to extract resources that can be sold or used in production, extract ore from asteroids and ice belts, create stimulants, large tonnage ships (which are very valuable in battles between player alliances) and even entire space stations.

By the way, production in EVE Online is a complex process, which involves not only different types of resources, extracted again by different methods, but also drawings, gases from wormholes and many other things. In addition, some built structures like those stations need a constant supply of fuel blocks, which require ice, which is extracted from the ice belts with special equipment. In other words, production is almost always a joint effort of many players, a whole chain, and everyone in this chain finds an important role.

"Soldiers of Fortune" also focus on cooperative activities because battles between player alliances are always a common endeavor in which, again, you need to know your role thoroughly and interact intelligently with your allies. Special agents teach these tactics, such as how to ambush, defend and fire support, what it means to be a fleet commander (he is chosen in advance), how to use light and maneuverable nano units and large tonnage ships.

The scouts, as we said, search for artifacts, treasures and valuable data using their scout probes and scanning objects - and they also have special tasks with aggravating (but more interesting!) conditions. For example, you can look for the so-called caches of sleepers containing unique trophies and resources (though, first you have to overcome the exposed protection). Or fly into warp space, which is located behind the wormholes away from New Eden, and there find the ghost objects: in the allotted time until they explode, you must have time to scan them and open them using the data analyzer.

In general, many people prefer to almost permanently live in this warp space - on the one hand, of course, it is dangerous, because there are no security forces "Concord" (such local police), so there are many dangerous pirates and players who like to hunt other users. But on the other hand, from here you can quickly get to the combat and research areas, where the most valuable prey. However, to survive in this space, you need to team up with other explorers to scan your surroundings together, and stock up on supplies, because there are no usual trading stations in warp.

As we begin to complete agents' tasks, we simultaneously begin to learn the skills that are relevant to one profession or another. For example, fighters cannot survive without the skills to resist armor and increase the damage from weapons and missiles, improve the rate of fire of launchers, and so on. Industrialists need to develop skills ore mining, processing raw materials, organization of production, scientific discipline (increases the speed of copying the drawing). Scouts, of course, first of all, master scanning and hacking skills, additional abilities that increase sensitivity, accuracy and speed of scouting probes.

This study abilities in EVE Online is different from the usual standard - you do not need to specifically perform a bunch of quests, fighting and earning experience. It is necessary to select the desired skill to study - and it will automatically be pumped. Then you can change, "putting on download" another skill - that is, the game does not limit you within a single profession, but be universal hardly work. Skills improve for a long time, and you can not develop two or more skills simultaneously - so you need to clearly choose what role and profession you want to play now.

There are over 400 skills in the game and it takes 35 (!) years to master them till the max level. But at the same time there are 14 basic starter skills without which beginners simply can't survive. Here they are - admission to ship control, central processing unit (CPU) control of any ship, reactor control, storage management, hull mechanical strength, hull improvements, shield management, shield regeneration, long-range target acquisition, signature analysis, basic piloting, maneuverability improvement and finally, the warp drive skill.

It is equally important to equip the ships correctly, i.e., to install the equipment that is appropriate for the chosen profession. Where will an explorer fly and what will he find without a probe, and why would an industrialist fly to a resource-rich asteroid if he didn't install a drill rig? It is also important in principle to get the ship right. For example, explorers can't do without a techno-level 1 search frigate, so they can switch to subversive frigates or strategic cruisers that can become invisible to scanners and probes. And when equipping such a ship, you need to use navigational equipment that makes it fast and maneuverable, as well as modules that improve scanner and probe sensitivity.

Well, for example, industrialists for obvious reasons make a choice in favor of cargo heavy ships, drilling barges and similar vessels with large tonnage and capacity. They are also understandably a target for quick profiteers, so it is important to equip such ships with protective shields. Understandably, other professions also have their own assemblies of the most suitable vessels and outfitting them with equipment and modules.

In general, ships (and there are over 350) are the heart of EVE Online. Each faction has its own unique ships and faction modules for them, which we gain access to as we improve our relationship with that group. But they are all generally divided into common classes: the basic corvettes, the more powerful and nimble frigates, the destroyers, which have more guns and better range and rate of fire; the regular and line cruisers, which are an evolution of the previous classes and are therefore suitable for almost any task.

Battleships are indispensable in inter-fleet battles; they bring down firepower at long range and can move allies to other sectors even without using the Stargate. KARs have about the same power as frigates, but they rely on the use of drones and carry other combat vessels in the cargo bay to support allies. Dreadnoughts are ideal for sieges and destroying enemy stations, as they do a great deal of damage and have siege modules. Finally, the most powerful warships in EVE Online are the Titans, which have cannons almost the size of high-rise buildings, they are called doomsday guns.

Among the civilian ships stand out the gunboats, ideal for fast trips around the galaxy, the cargo ships of normal and large tonnage, the drilling barges, and the frigates. And the coolest and most capacious transport ships are the Freighters - sluggish, slow, but well-protected.

All ships play a specific role, and the player needs to be well aware of its advantages, correctly playing this role. For example, fast and nimble frigates are great for intercepting targets, distracting them or attacking large ships in groups. But there's also a way to deal with them - all ships interact with each other on a rock-paper-scissors basis, which rules out any one-size-fits-all winning tactics.

On the one hand, it is quite convenient to control all the ships - there is almost automated control and navigation, you can specify the object to fly to, order to enter the orbit of another ship, capture it as a target and open fire. There are also a lot of "stargates" through which we are quickly transported to other sectors - and you can go to them, and dock at a station to trade and take a new mission, again in automatic mode. Plus there's good intelligible training.

But on the other hand there's a lot of details and mechanics that need to be taken into account to become a really good competent pilot - this includes properly equipping ships with the right equipment, which we've already talked about, and developing skills appropriate to the specifics of using that particular ship. As a result, some battles can go on for hours and even twenty-four hours - especially if we are talking about large-scale clashes between alliances.

Yes, in the end, whatever roles you play and whatever agent assignments or story arcs you go through, it all comes down to participating in corporations and alliances created by the players themselves, in wars over territory - that's the whole point and the beauty of EVE Online. The whole New Eden is divided into sectors with different levels of security: where it is high ("heiseki" in local jargon), players are protected from attacks by other users and tough pirates by the presence of "Concorde", that is the local police. Although here in principle any player is free to attack another and in any place - it's just that in hysacks it's comparable to suicide. And after death you lose the ship completely with all modules.

But in the sectors with zero security (they are called "zeros") anything can happen to you - players attacking other users are practically unpunished. But this is where the richest deposits of resources are, and it is these sectors that corporations and alliances fight among themselves. By the way, they can declare war on anyone they want without any restrictions, and there is no way to refuse a war - you can only prepare for it within 24 hours.

No other MMO has had such compelling stories that have become legendary, passed down by word of mouth, about how major alliances have been fighting each other for months, making alliances, splitting up, and moving in different directions - and people have watched it like a gripping SkyFi series. Such, for example, was the confrontation between the famous Band of Brothers pirates and their Mercenary Coalition allies with Dusk and Dawn and the Red Swarm Federation. Their decisive battle lasted three weeks.

The mechanics of alliances is so interesting and addictive because the developers, as we have already said, originally decided not to interfere with what is happening, allowing the players to live their own lives and simulate this real life. Therefore, deception, conspiracy, fraud, espionage, politics (which is almost the same thing), intrigue and games behind the scenes - there were cases where people specifically built a career in an alliance, and after heading it, immediately dissolved it, thus removing a competitor. This is exactly what happened to the aforementioned legendary alliance Band of Brothers.

Many alliances also resemble corporations from real life - there is a clear hierarchy and division of responsibilities, right down to having a department for "PR" and public relations, not to mention the combat wing, where fighters and "soldiers of fortune" undergo regular exercises and get paid, and the production unit, where "industrialists" work. Similarly, during epic full-scale battles between alliances, all structures and possible tactics are engaged. The Fleet Commander determines the overall strategy and orders the attack, with critical information and data delivered to him by scouts. Soldiers go to the front lines, and it's the commander who decides which ships they'll fight on. Combat support pilots, who focus on repairing ships, and electronic warfare specialists, who can boost attacks and suppress enemy sensors, play an important role.

In addition, alliances and corporations can employ advanced but effective tactics such as heavy sabotage battleships in warp space, where second tier battleships can drop whole cloaked flotillas through hyperportals and wait for attack orders for long periods of time. One of the reasons why clashes between alliances can take a very long time. But all the more interesting. The game also has factional wars where you help your faction by capturing special beacons and in return you improve your relationship with your faction and gain access to its unique equipment and ships.

Similarly, according to the laws of real life in EVE Online works and economy, which here, respectively, the market - everything is bought and sold, the players themselves determine the prices, supply and demand, and some corporations sometimes even specifically create a shortage of certain goods or resources to inflate their prices. There is also a tax system in place, and the developers employ a doctor of economics who regularly compiles reports on the state of the local economy. This is understandable-the authors estimate that there are about a million market transactions per day.

In the game itself, recall, you can play for free in a limited alpha-status or buy the advanced omega-status. In addition, for real money in-game store sells alpha-injectors, which give skill points, and SP-extractors, allowing you to extract the skill points you've already mastered, trade them, exchange them, or redistribute them. Users can also buy payment licenses for real money (called "plexes") and then resell them for in-game currency (InterStellar Kredits or ISK). But it is forbidden to withdraw real money from the game.

In addition, users can produce ships and modules for them themselves from assembled materials according to a certain drawing, and then put them up for sale - many build their careers on this. In this case, orders for sale and purchase differ in price between each other - and here it is important to constantly monitor such orders to avoid competitors. To build first buy the original blueprints (the coolest, rarest and most expensive - the 3rd level blueprints), then as much as possible use them and study them to increase efficiency and production speed. You can also make a copy of the blueprint and sell it - or use it to build an advanced version of the original ship or module.

Since in essence we are facing capitalism and market economy, in the game, as in real life, there is fraud - there were cases of financial pyramids, when a person collected almost a year of money, paid dividends, and then closed his "MMM" and withdrew the virtual currency into real dollars to pay his bills. The developers in such cases try not to interfere, but gambling in EVE Online they still banned.

Yes, EVE Online is a huge, unique and often brutal game. But do not be intimidated - the game itself is quite intelligible convenient training, which is strictly mandatory to pass (as well as agent missions), and on the official website - available detailed guides and video tutorials. Spend time on them, study, prepare, and join the ranks of the capsuleers to find your place in this interesting, lively, constantly evolving and changing world of New Eden. If you are a true space romantic, there is no other choice.

March 2022