A gaming universe as vast and unique as EVE Online is constantly evolving and the experience is different for every participant. Conventional games review techniques cannot possibly hope to provide an accurate measure of every aspect of EVE’s gameplay. However, with a community initiative like the Blog Banters, we have the resources to deliver the most thorough and up-to-date review ever.

By combining the experiences of contributors from across the EVE metasphere, we get a wealth of opinions from veterans and rookies alike. We’ll be able to combine input from faction warfare specialists, wormhole residents, null-sec warriors, missioners, pirates, industrialists, roleplayers, politicians and more to paint a complete picture of the health and progress of EVE Online in its current Retribution incarnation.

Who better to review EVE Online than those who know it best?

Hmmm, the things I have focused on in 2012 …

SHIP SPINNING

Well, I can zoom out further than I used to be able to. The graphics updates this year have been minimal, but noticeable.

8/10

CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

I do spend some time in my CQ, whether on my main as Roc, or on my two alt traders. Still nothing to do in CQ, so mostly I have turned it off. So I’ll divide this into two sections.

2/10

NOBLE EXCHANGE

Still not a full catalogue though it lists all the items that were prepped for its initial release. Still overpriced for what it is considering nobody can actually interact with each other on a “physical” level.

2/10

PLANETARY INTERACTION

The majority of what my alts tend to is financing Roc. As such, planetary interaction has provided a passive, albeit relatively low income over the past year. Small UI improvements to provide better interface efficiency, but overall it’s been a forgotten piece of architecture in 2012.

3/10

WORKING IN 3D

.red files, now .black files, sail patterns, missing specularity for Minmatar wingbits, the list goes on. I totally understand why CCP wants to make sure their ingame realtime renders look superior to anything we can do as players out of game, but there are certain things that frustrate the hell out of me. For example, on the Minmatar Captain’s Quarters, there are missing points on the floor so you can’t successfully export it using Triexporter and import it into C4D. The floor would need to be fixed. It’s just sloppy. Of course, the game engine can write code logic to work around this, and I know a few brilliant players in the EVE Technology Lab forum that could probably figure this out, but I’ve wasted far too many hours on it so instead am just building my own damn room.

Having said that, the assets that do work are magnificent and the level of detail is incredible. Add some Greebles in your 3D program of choice and you can create some stellar images and animations of our favourite game.

7/10

MARKET

The main source of funding for Roc comes from the market. I won’t reveal what my alts trade in but there are a few staples that remain incredibly profitable and because of the ease of the market, I spend less than 10 minutes per day per alt making a few billion ISK per month apiece. I’ve always enjoyed EVE Online’s market.

9/10

ROLEPLAY

Most players don’t get roleplay. They assume it’s for the nerdiest of nerds, when the truth is that by entering any fictional game you’re playing a role. That’s a rant I’ve gone over many times. However, I’ve noticed three things this year in regards to roleplay:

• players are continually coming up with worse and worse names. I’m looking at you assman806824
• players are becoming increasingly immature in the way they conduct and express themselves. Because fuck you that’s why.
• the few players I do run into that realize I’m in character at all times when ingame and respond in kind has resulted in some of the best conversations I’ve had in the years I’ve been playing. Thank you Dal local chat.

Still, the overall roleplay aspect of EVE Online is sorely lacking, which is a shame considering how rich the lore of EVE is. I truly wish CCP would promote immersion more. It’s a helluva lot more than just blowing up spaceships if you have the capacity to look only a little deeper.

3/10

MUSIC

EVE has sound? It’s a sentiment we all know. I myself have created several EVE inspired musical albums, even one entitled New Eden Soundtrack, which was my take on how New Eden should sound. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge RealX fan. I just found the music limited, the sound effects stale. That all changed last Fanfest when I had the opportunity to attend a sound roundtable and not only got to hear some of the ideas the audio guys had, but really got to get hands on with them and offer many ideas on how it could be improved. Many notes were taken, but I withheld any excitement of these ideas seeing the light of day as CCP typically takes a long day to do anything.

Retribution proved me wrong. Nearly 100% of the ideas spoken about during that two hour session came to life. Well done, CCP. Well done.

9/10

API

Promises of CREST, missed developer license deadlines, dangling the carrot of being able to write to the system instead of read only – not a single thing delivered. It makes me worried a bit for DUST, but that’s their problem. For those of us who enjoy the EVE API, there is still a lot of room for improvement on the existing system let alone what is going to be introduced when and if CREST is finally released. Again, I don’t think this is the fault of the API devs – they were great at Fanfest. I simply think it’s taking much longer to get things approved than anyone anticipated. Still, if it results in things being done right the first, I don’t mind waiting a little longer.

6/10

SHINY

As always, CCP continues to raise the artistic bar. Smoke trails on missles, improved graphics and ship redesigns, god rays and better halos, it just keeps getting better and better to the point where EVE Online has been inducted into the Museum or Art. Impressive. Despite players always complaining how CCP goes from shiny to shiny, I have to admit, EVE Online is still the most damn sexy game I’ve ever laid eyes on.

10/10

MORE KAHLIA

My biggest complaint, of course, is that this game simply needs more Kahlia. Oh wait, completely wrong place for that. My apologies.

And I think that’s it from me. Obviously, I need to undock more, get back to the front lines of the war, get more involved with my alliance, hell, just get in game more. It’s been a crazy busy year but I hope what little insights I’ve provided are of value to you.