GamerNode: Features - Exploring Space: EVE Online

Exploring Space: EVE Online

Seth undocked, his colossal Gallente cruiser sliding out of the space station, Arghesi's nearest moon in full view. He set course, and allowed the powerful Vexor's jump drives power him into the space-time tunnel referred to as "the warp". He sat back and began scanning the local area for any rival factions, before decelerating and locking onto the nearest asteroid. Powerful mining lasers on either side of his vessel flared into life, their vibrant streaks of orange and red slamming into the rock drifting through space, slowly harvesting the ore within. It was going to be a productive day, he thought, especially as his scout drones had just ambushed the pirates waiting for him in the darkness of space, leaving him with even more materials to add to his considerable wealth.

This isn't really the kind of online gaming experience anyone could claim to be familiar with. The background of fiction, economy, and the ability to run businesses, affect the economy and live in a single instance of the game universe was something that EVE Online accomplishes without even breaking a sweat. Now at a quarter of a million users, not to mention at least forty thousand people trying it out at any one time, it's become a major player in the world of MMO titles. But its beginnings were just as humble as the mightiest of titles we play on a daily basis.

"The founding crew were fans of the game Elite", says Ned Coker, IP Development Manager at CCP Games, situated in the unusual location of Iceland. "Between the way the night sky looks in Iceland and the immense enjoyment they took from this game, they were inspired to apply modern computer science technology and artistic direction to the same underlying gameplay activities of space trading and combat."

Space trading and combat are a large portion of the game indeed, with trades numbering in the millions every day in a variety of forms. Everything from ore, to milk, to ships themselves can be traded, and some players make their in-game living simply from transporting goods from the seller to the buyer. Though the concept of "making a living" is something that might come as something of a surprise to players of other MMO titles, as the leap from slaying dragons and adopting that devil-may-care attitude with your Orc Warrior to attempting to scrounge enough money to get a decent ship in EVE through killing other players is a fairly big one.

But it's worth keeping in mind that ISK (the game's currency) can put users in positions of considerable power. With your meagre sum of 5'000 ISK at the beginning of your career, you can amass several million only a few hours in if you're willing to take a realistic approach to the title. This can take the form of any variety of expenses, from tax on market goods to the more surprising insurance costs for those paranoid about losing their ships: this is a worthy investment, as even this journalist has returned after an hour's time away from his ship to see a floating wreck and a huge chunk taken out of his wallet after a lack of insurance came to his attention.

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