EVE Online. The one game that makes space and the rest of the universe feel just a tiny bit more within reach, is one of the oldest MMORPGs out there, and is seemingly one of the most underestimated and undervalued, but by far, is one of my favorite within the MMORPG region.

The biggest aspect of this game, in my opinion, is the sheer scope of the universe you play in. Imagine this: The universe, a group constellations within the universe, a region within a group of constellations, a group of solar systems within a region, a group of stars within a group of solar systems, a set of planets orbiting one of said stars, moons orbiting one of the planets, and asteroid fields all over the place... In EVE, all that is your world, and your home is the spaceship you fly.


image from www.eveonline.com/

EVE Online is set several tens of thousands of years after our time in which there are four races of human beings, the Caldari: the hyper-capitalist and super militaristic group of corporations, the Amarr: religious extremists willing to do anything for their god empress, the Gallente: the democrats and  the "all men are born equal" alliance, and then finally, there are the Minmatar, the tribal, gunslinging, cave-men and woman like nation.

In EVE, you represent a pilot in either of these races. You can be any or act as any role from a maurader, to a miner, to a dreadnought, but everything is skill-based. Meaning, what you do and how well you do it, strictly depends on two factors, the skills you train, and to a certain degree your skill as a player inclusive of the strategy you use. What you could be asking now is, quite simply, why not train all the skills? Well... I asked the exact same question, and the reason is, well, to train all the EVE skills to level V (the highest level) will take you approximately five years give or take a few months, that is, if you spend every second of that five years making sure your character is training, and not to mention, skills need to be bought, and the higher end ones can cost several hundred million ISK (in-game currency), you may just end up having the most impressive skill book around. If you think that is bad, get this: If you don't keep your clone updated (meaning if you don't have a clone with sufficient skill-point coverage) and you die, you will lose the skill points you don't have covered... In fact it happened to a friend. He wasn't happy.

image from www.eveonline.com/

So. Why is EVE worth the patience to master it, the time to play it, and the monthly subscription? Quite simple. It is just plain awesome. It's one server. It's hundreds of thousands of players in one universe, and its so big, that lag is usually not a problem unless you run into logoffskis... But not only is it all that. You, as one pilot can have countless influence over any group of people in EVE. You can decide to run for election, in which you rule over your fellow peers, you can decide to become an outlaw, in which you prey and live off of the murder of your peers, you can become a corporation leader, a business manager, you can become whatever you allow your imagination to dream of.. (keeping in mind that skills may determine how realistic your dream will have to be). I mean, honestly, who wouldn't want to be like Captain James T. Kirk?

- Joachim