Eve Online

[Pudsterman]

I'm not sure how many people out there are aware of Eve Online. It's a MMORPG set in space with alot of very interesting possibilities for group play. Actually groups would form up as corporations.

Currently, I'm participating in the Beta and the game is due to ship in March. I dunno if anyone in the AK community would be interested in playing and forming a corporation, but you may want to take a look at the website and see for yourself.

If anyone is interested in playing, let me know and we can see about forming a corp.

http://www.eve-online.com

[[AK]Choozoo]

I wish, but I didn't get chosen for the beta....

[[AK]StitchJones]

I'm in the BETA, and I yet to get into the game and play!

[Widowmaker]

I'm in beta too, just got on this last weekend. The servers are either never up or have massive connectivity problems. The times I have gotten in the graphics and sounds are amazing. Problem is I crash every few minutes and have yet to actualy finish the tutorial, the farthest I have gotten before crash is the shoot the drone part. Not sure what comes after it since I crash before I can finish it and when I get back in my ship is floating in space. I have mined an asteroid but not sure what to do after that since after mining it I got a full load and... crash and have yet to be able to get back on.

I've read on the beta boards that it is pretty boring in the newbie levels as you don't have much else to do but mine asteroids. It apparently has "Open" PvP meaning Ultima Online style anyone can attack you deal which gets frustrating as RPG's tend to be about "He who playes the most hours will be the most powerful". I am still up in the air on this one as it looks great has in depth character creation and variety. Once I get to actualy play it I'll know better.

I'd be suprised if it comes out in March. If it does they had better get things working asap.

[Pudsterman]

Widowmaker, the problems you are describing are all lag related. They are still in Beta 5 and right now are testing the server loads. Because of that, I believe they are intentionally pushing servers to the limit to examine lag issues. Just last night, I was able to play without any lag issues. It was fantastic. I believe that they are ending this phase real soon and last night was a sign of some good things to come.

Also, there will be a player wipe real soon with the new game build - I'm hearing that it's going to be next week. The new game build is supposed to be VERY close to the completed game.

It will be an open PvP game, but one feature that will be implemented is a police force. The more you go around shooting people up, the worse your security status will become. There will be "secure" systems with a heavy police presence where the PKers will be unable to go without getting blown up by a police cruiser or two. It will be in these zones that newbs can build up strength without fear of death.

In the unsecure zones, pretty much everything goes. That's where it really helps to belong to a corp. Safety in numbers is good.

This game has nearly unlimited potential and I'm holding out hope that the devs can solve the problems. The player wipe and new game build will have a lot to say about that.

If any of you guys in the beta get in game, my character is Markus Barwindow. Give me a yell and I will help you out the best I can.

[Pudsterman]

Update:

Beta 5 is over and the player wipe is upon us! The new build will be implemented in 2-4 days - "maybe sooner" according to one of the devs. So it looks like the moment of truth is upon us.

[Widowmaker]

Sounds like they are doing the Ultima Online style PvP then. Gaurds and "safe" areas and so forth.

I predict it will turn into a PKers GankFest with a bunch of idiots (of all ages) with extremely stupid names running around Pking people at will and just pissing people off. Everyone will be crammed into the more patrolled areas so there will not be enough asteroids to go around (is there anything to do besides mining?). You throw open PvP into and RPG and all it turns into is a gank fest. And if you can't hang with the gangsta's (and they will talk like it too, foo!) then go elswhere. Saw it happen before in both EQ and UO it will happen again.

UO ended up redisigning their game to allow for non-PvP shard mirrors. EQ is mostly non-PvP with PvP servers for people that want to play that way (SullonZek, which I used to like but got sick of all the gangsta wannabies who just wanted to ruin your day... no other reason since they could not loot more than your coin anyway).

We shall see what eve turns into. Did I mention the graphics rock? And the music sets the mood quite well.

Unfortunately I have been eying Neocron lately. An interesting blend of first person shooter and RPG with PvP in unrestricted areas. Of course it is all just time killer before Planetside and SWG (not sure which I look forward to more, Planetside possibly).

[[AK]Choozoo]

just dl'ed 791b, will be installing and waiting for new build...

[[AK]Choozoo]

STITCH!!!

Wrong password!