AtrocityExhibition wrote:
Back in work tomorrow so I'll have a chat with my refer-a-friender, see if he can start to give me a sort of an idea as to how one finds a direction in the game - most MMOs give you that basic level system, you start at 1 and work your way up from there, and whilst EVE has the skills system, it's not a basic case of 'just level up even if you're doing nothing else'. (Yes I know I can always have skills levelling up (which I am doing), but there's not that simple 'just do stuff' and your character will get better arrangement in place.)
Finding a "direction" isn't too tricky. You just do what you want to, and what you enjoy. That's what the game lets you do. All it does is say, "Hey, sport, here's the universe, there's a whole bunch of cool toys in here, use them as you want to" and tousles your hair in an affectionate manner. Then pushes out out the front door, into he cold, pouring rain, and it's up to you. There is no level 80 boss to beat, all that is out there is space. Space that you can control. Space, that if you want to control, you're going to have to take from someone else. Your character is on his own journey to find fame and fortune, all the tools are there to do it, it is just how it is done.
The lack of defined 'levels' is possibly a bit of a ballache for someone coming from WoW where Lvl 40 will always beat level 12, but I've seen a couple of frigates kill a battleship, it isn't always about the purples. "but I've put so much time in!" They'll shout, "Why did I die?" before running back to hi-sec. The answer is generally "You fucked up, or weren't clever enough". Anecdotally, WoW players do struggle with EvE, and the fact it is so unforgiving, and spend their time in Hi-sec running the same missions again and again, never venturing out into the adventourous lands unless they have to, whereas people new to this sort of thing say "I cn do anything? Cool" and build their own narratives, only limited by their imaginations.
The beauty of EvE is that a two week old player can beat a two year old player. It's not about what 'level' you are, it's about how clever and cunning you are. The clever players, no matter what 'level' they are, will have the advantage over those lacking guile. Choose your own adventure.
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Mr Chris wrote:
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