Eve is my alt

Even though my gaming time is limited, and 90% of it is spent in Warhammer Online (Last night: Reclaimed several tier 2 keeps, a few PQs, and a few quests) I decided for some reason that I am going to start playing Eve Online as well. Eve was the first MMO that I ever played from launch day, and back at the beginning I stuck with it for about a month before feeling a bit bored with it and leaving. I have been back a few times over the years, but eventually the seemingly endless complexity eventually overwhelms me and I go back to the simple pleasures of killing boars over and over again. You know where you are with boars.

But the trouble is I remain fascinated with the notion of Eve. The sandbox nature of it's world is very appealing. I love the completely player driven economy. I love that it is all on a single server. The open-pvp-but-with-consequences system creates a brilliant atmosphere; as you venture out into lower security space seeking better asteroid fields, any ship you pass is viewed cautiously, as a potential threat. The fact that you can actually loose your ship that you have worked hard to buy gives the concept of conflict real weight.

The biggest problem I have with the game is that I lack a sense of my own character. In Eve, you are represented by a static portrait you create, and ultimately your ships are your characters. It can be a bit hard to relate to a spaceship, after a while. Also, because it is all in space, there is no tangible world to explore, and I miss that. If anybody makes an MMO with the same open ended nature of Eve, but where I get to have a character and explore a world, that would be lovely thanks. Maybe the Whitewolf MMO that CCP are making? I had hoped to find this sort of world in Age of Conan, but I was very wrong.

So why go back to Eve yet again? Several reasons. This time I am going to take it slow, and learn as I go along, rather than panic that I need to know everything right from the start. Also, it is a great change of pace to Warhammer, and I think that playing the two with give me some good gaming options depending on my mood. Then there is the matter of the 'walking around in stations' upgrade which is coming soon, and which I am hoping will not only give me more of a sense of my own character, but also give the universe a more tangible feeling. Let's see how I get on shall we?