![]() ![]() ![]() That is fun for some people, but the problem comes when those people begin telling others that this isn’t just one way to play EVE-it’s the only one that matters.Īnd the galling part is that when they point at their masses of powerful ships, vast expanses of territory, and large member rosters, they seem like the picture of success-until you realize that those are just numbers, too. ![]() It displaces other conceptions of ‘fun’ with a steadily increasing number. Soon, optimization stops being a tool to achieve goals and starts being a goal in itself. Image of Sheetmon with GESI – via RedditĪnd optimization only cares about measurable, tangible markers: ISK/hour, high-priced kills, number of kills, amount of territory, etc. In a race to achieve their goals, many players have abandoned everything but optimization. But EVE has encouraged players to be ruthless, pragmatic, and rational in order to gain an edge, whether it’s combat or making money. The only wild card left in EVE, he says, is the players themselves. No risks that aren’t understood and fully calculated to significant digits of accuracy.” Almost every aspect of the game is min/maxed and players can completely optimize their gameplay…In a grimdark world of internet spaceships, there are no mysteries. “After almost 20 years, players have solved EVE Online. According to a post by Dinkle about the state of EVE Online in 2022: In addition to this, there’s an assuredness that this is how EVE is meant to be played.Īfter looking around, I found that some long-time players felt similarly. The mindset, to me, is one that seeks to push the risk/reward ratio as high as possible on the side of reward, even when doing so has stopped being fun. The foremost realization I had is that there is a mindset that seems to permeate the game. However, after the heady, overwhelming few months playing, a lot of things came into sharper focus once I had time to reflect. When I started in January, I immersed myself as much as I could: I joined a corp for new players, trained with a mentor, read and memorized as much as I could, and tried to get a ‘big picture’ of the game by reading and listening to folks who’d been around longer than I had.Įven after I put the game on hold to deal with career stuff, I kept plugged in to the EVE community. Recently, I returned to EVE after trying out the game earlier this year. And more and more, I’ve been seeing parallels with EVE. ![]() Invisible Sun showed me that the limits of a game aren’t always its system or even its mechanics-sometimes, it’s the mindset players bring to the table. Once you’ve spent years in that mindset, it’s hard to imagine what else an RPG can be. There were all kinds of limits to strain against, challenges to overcome, paths to follow, ingenious possibilities to explore, but thirty years of D&D had made TTRPGs synonymous with killing things, selling loot, and finding gear. What I didn’t count on was the reaction from my players: in a game where you can do anything you can imagine, their biggest challenge was figuring out what stories they wanted to create. In Invisible Sun, you needed both Joy and Despair to ‘level up’, so even when you failed, you still grew from the experience. At every step along the Arc, they had a chance to earn ‘Joy’ (if things turned out well) or ‘Despair’ (if things went badly). Instead of the Game Master tossing out a quest, players undertook Arcs, a mini-story arc that could be anything from gaining revenge to becoming a parent. The biggest departure from other games was how the story played out. Want to break the timeline and rewrite the past? It’s hard, but you can do it. Want to capture a moment of time and relive it again and again? Doable. As someone who played D&D for years (and ran games professionally), it was like going back to school and learning what games could do.Īll the intricate, esoteric rules came together to offer something unparalleled: a framework that told you “if you can imagine it, it’s possible.” Want to turn yourself into a cloud of sentient fireflies? Fine. Inside was one of the most obscure and complex tabletop RPGs ever created: Invisible Sun. “After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” – Phillip PullmanĪ couple of years ago, I brought home a 25-pound black cube. ![]()
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