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Curious on what it was like when it all started.....
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Kali Vindictus
Doomheim
#1 - 2013-03-21 12:45:56 UTC
I've been a EvE addict for a few years now but I can still remember how quickly I was hooked simply on the open sandbox concept the game was based on and how new and unexplored it all appeared. To this day i'm still learning new things, most especially how quickly my shiny things tend to blow up.

But it got me thinking, since EvE is crossing the double digit mark, what was New Eden like for those who have been here since time began? Was it this vast expanse of emptiness with some rats and NPC's thrown in? What was the value of isk by comparison of today's market?

......and more interestingly, what were the forums like?
Whitehound
#2 - 2013-03-21 12:52:01 UTC  |  Edited by: Whitehound
It was like Tetris.

Also, in before "everything was better".

And in before "forums had pictures".

Loss is meaningful. Therefore is the loss of meaning likewise meaningful. It is the source of all trolling.
Destination SkillQueue
Doomheim
#3 - 2013-03-21 12:54:34 UTC
My knowledge of the early start is second hand knowledge, so I'll leave answering that to people who actually were there. I can help with the early forums though, since they are archived. It seems like pretty much the same cesspool, but different(and familiar) topics.
Nova Satar
Pator Tech School
#4 - 2013-03-21 13:06:44 UTC  |  Edited by: Nova Satar
bigger and better.

Prime example is: If you wanted your stuff moved down to 0.0, you would form a gang, get a freighter and escort it down there. You'd fight off small raiding gangs if you could, and have to battle your way past larger ones. These days you undock, right click and jump to destination.

Which do you think makes for a better game? The answer is obvious, but EVE is too busy for fun features now, so a better game is neither achievable or profitable.
Merouk Baas
#5 - 2013-03-21 13:10:46 UTC
It had the same number of solar systems on the map (there were no w-space systems). The empires were in the same spots, although with different leaders listed in the lore website. The UI was slightly different, but based on the same concept of the HUD circle and right-click menus. There were no capital ships; it was all up to Battleship as the biggest size.

The open beta ended with an "Armaggeddon" event, where all ships got test server prices (100 isk) and everyone went nuts in an orgy of fighting in the few hours leading to the servers closing prior to release (characters were wiped for release).

The biggest difference is that cliques and the famous people were a lot more known and in-your-face, compared to now. The pool of empire high-sec PVE-only players was smaller, so if you did something outstanding or news-worthy, you became a celebrity faster and were possibly in the immediate interaction circles to most of the playerbase. The 0.0 wars were between fewer people, but a lot closer to a lot of people.

Also, players doing news-worthy things led to some big changes which shaped the game. Someone actually tanked Concord for hours on end, killing everyone passing through the Jita-equivalent at the time - that changed Concord to be unkillable and made the guy famous. People making fortunes trading NPC goods at server start time (when the market was seeded) made CCP get rid of npc-made goods. And so on, it was basically a newer game, with a lot of possibilities for "creative gameplay" that CCP had to patch out. They were pretty cool about not banning people for having bright ideas, though.
Lady Ayeipsia
BlueWaffe
#6 - 2013-03-21 13:13:59 UTC
Nova Satar wrote:
bigger and better.

Prime example is: If you wanted your stuff moved down to 0.0, you would form a gang, get a freighter and escort it down there. You'd fight off small raiding gangs if you could, and have to battle your way past larger ones. These days you undock, right click and jump to destination.

Which do you think makes for a better game? The answer is obvious, but EVE is too busy for fun features now, so a better game is neither achievable or profitable.


So you are saying a logistic nightmare for larger alliances and groups in nul is your idea of a better game? Alarm clock ops, which only dedicated players can make is a better game than one where even casual players who can contribute 3 hours during their timezone's evening hours is a better game?

I understand the desired for good fights, but a return to such days seems like making eve more pf a job for many, not a game. That risks alienating the player base and does not see like a wise idea.
S'Way
State War Academy
Caldari State
#7 - 2013-03-21 13:16:34 UTC
Merouk Baas wrote:
It had the same number of solar systems on the map (there were no w-space systems).

Wrong.
Black rise wasn't there at all - nor were the drone regions. Both got added in expansions.

It was better in some ways, worse in others. I don't miss the days of warp to zero bookmarks for every gate though.
Nova Satar
Pator Tech School
#8 - 2013-03-21 13:17:09 UTC
Lady Ayeipsia wrote:
Nova Satar wrote:
bigger and better.

Prime example is: If you wanted your stuff moved down to 0.0, you would form a gang, get a freighter and escort it down there. You'd fight off small raiding gangs if you could, and have to battle your way past larger ones. These days you undock, right click and jump to destination.

Which do you think makes for a better game? The answer is obvious, but EVE is too busy for fun features now, so a better game is neither achievable or profitable.


So you are saying a logistic nightmare for larger alliances and groups in nul is your idea of a better game? Alarm clock ops, which only dedicated players can make is a better game than one where even casual players who can contribute 3 hours during their timezone's evening hours is a better game?

I understand the desired for good fights, but a return to such days seems like making eve more pf a job for many, not a game. That risks alienating the player base and does not see like a wise idea.


lol...

no alarm clock ops, because you didn't need every possible number you could acquire to get something done. It wasnt a logistical nightmare either, it was the way things were done and encouraged teamwork and objectives. Try to picture it without knowing about jump bridges and jump freighters. It only seems a nightmare to you because you are comparing it to modern ways.

its just one exmaple
Nova Satar
Pator Tech School
#9 - 2013-03-21 13:18:48 UTC
S'Way wrote:
Merouk Baas wrote:
It had the same number of solar systems on the map (there were no w-space systems).

Wrong.
Black rise wasn't there at all - nor were the drone regions. Both got added in expansions.

It was better in some ways, worse in others. I don't miss the days of warp to zero bookmarks for every gate though.


the default warp to 15km created an entirely new profession for those who went around entire regions makiing bookmarks 15km behind each gate in all directions so they could be sold to those wanting to warp to zero. Pretty awesome when you think about it, but i dont miss it P
i-AA
Cream Pie Carpet Munchers
#10 - 2013-03-21 13:20:07 UTC
I played back in Revelations II and so on in every following expansion mostly on and off trial accounts, cant tell you about how it was deep in the game, but graphically and game mechanics wise it was much more simple, lots of fewer options and stuff to do.

On the opposite side I think the feeling that you had was that you were really flying in the universe, I dont know why it seems that was somewhat faded graphically speaking as of right now. Or it could be just me ^^
Nova Satar
Pator Tech School
#11 - 2013-03-21 13:20:47 UTC
the domi was made of wood aswell Big smile
Siigari Kitawa
New Eden Archery Club
#12 - 2013-03-21 13:33:11 UTC
Nova Satar wrote:
the domi was made of wood aswell Big smile

http://siigarikitawa.com/index.php?id=15 :D

Need stuff moved? Push Industries will handle it. Serving highsec, lowsec and nullsec - and we do it faster and more reliably than anyone else. Ingame channel: PUSHX
Felicity Love
Doomheim
#13 - 2013-03-21 13:41:59 UTC  |  Edited by: Felicity Love
It was a frakking boatload of fun... and it still is... DESPITE how EVE has been repeatedly "dumbed down" and diluted by the whining of the unwashed masses. Blink

"EVE is dying." -- The Four Forum Trolls of the Apocalypse.   ( Pick four, any four. They all smell.  )
Theron Vetrus
Doomheim
#14 - 2013-03-21 13:50:09 UTC  |  Edited by: Theron Vetrus
I beta tested EVE, and played very briefly in 2006 and 2008.

The biggest SNAFU I remember has already been mentioned above: you didn't used to be able to warp to zero at a gate. If you wanted to travel quickly, you needed a ton of bookmarks.

Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but:

Security in hi-sec was a lot less. I think you used to be able to shoot ships in hi-sec without CONCORD coming to the rescue right away. It wasn't until that ship blew up that CONCORD intervened. I seem to remember being attacked, taken into structure, and ransomed a lot more often in the old days.

Take what you can, give nothing back. Psychotic Monk for CSM8
Chribba
Otherworld Enterprises
Otherworld Empire
#15 - 2013-03-21 13:54:33 UTC
It was... a different game... http://eve-files.com/chribba/2000.06_Orion.jpg but did evolve http://eve-files.com/chribba/2000.11_Laika_JonHallurCrowdedJumpgate.jpg into something http://eve-files.com/chribba/2002.02_Emerald_JonHallurBattleShipMiners4.jpg beautiful!

So in short, lovely.

/c

★★★ Secure 3rd party service ★★★

Visit my in-game channel 'Holy Veldspar'

Twitter @ChribbaVeldspar
Sura Sadiva
Entropic Tactical Crew
#16 - 2013-03-21 14:05:11 UTC  |  Edited by: Sura Sadiva
Theron Vetrus wrote:

Security in hi-sec was a lot less. I think you used to be able to shoot ships in hi-sec without CONCORD coming to the rescue right away. It wasn't until that ship blew up that CONCORD intervened. I seem to remember being attacked, taken into structure, and ransomed a lot more often in the old days.



i remember people making a point in being able to tank or destory concord ships. There were group deidicated to study and try how much they could get close to destroy a concord ship.
So CCP buffed Concord, but if I remember correctly was't a buff related to concord react time was more about dps and hp, but this was around 2008.

Later I think they also buffed Concord reaction time, but I think was more recently when suicide ganking became more common.
Gary Goat
XDC-UK
#17 - 2013-03-21 14:09:13 UTC
I started playing just after the first expansion was released. That expansion included interceptors and the first t2 modules.

Battleships were the biggest class of ships, no capital ships at all (including freighters). Also no tier 3 battleships.
There were no battlecruisers or destoryers
No warp to zero, it was 15km minimum
Cruisers were considered pretty expensive, if you had a battleship you were rich.
Torps did splash damage
Stacking penalties didn't exist, Gankgeddons with 8 heatsinks in the low were pretty common.
You could stack mwds and go really really fast.
No probes or cloaks
You couldn't make alliances
No pos or outposts
No level 4 agents
No deadspace complexes

That's what I can remember off the top of my head. Basically you all have it easy these days. Back then isk was really really hard to make. Took me over a month to save up the 7m for a thorax and I was over the moon when I finally bought one and took it out for the first time. To this day the thorax is my favourite ship in game just because it was the first proper ship I was proud to own.
monkfish2345
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#18 - 2013-03-21 14:11:14 UTC
From when i started in RMR, it feels like the game has evolved fairly naturally, but the bigger change is the how we all interact. at the time the BOB vs ASCN war was in full swing and the race for the first titan was nearing it's end.(was all very cold war).
but it seemed like even those of us still finding our feet in high sec had an interest in the goings on of null. and the desire was always to go and find your fortune out in 0.0.

now days it seems the complete opposite. titans being built or destroyed is all fairly minor news in the grand scheme of things. It feels almost like the playerbase has expended more than EVE really ever considered.

In my mind they were happier times. but it's hard not to appreciate alot of the good that has also been given to us. contracts, ships, gfx, wormholes, fw & incursions (to an extent).

the more i think about it, the more it fell like there were 'special' things out there.
Velicitia
XS Tech
#19 - 2013-03-21 14:11:57 UTC
Lady Ayeipsia wrote:
Nova Satar wrote:
bigger and better.

Prime example is: If you wanted your stuff moved down to 0.0, you would form a gang, get a freighter and escort it down there. You'd fight off small raiding gangs if you could, and have to battle your way past larger ones. These days you undock, right click and jump to destination.

Which do you think makes for a better game? The answer is obvious, but EVE is too busy for fun features now, so a better game is neither achievable or profitable.


So you are saying a logistic nightmare for larger alliances and groups in nul is your idea of a better game? Alarm clock ops, which only dedicated players can make is a better game than one where even casual players who can contribute 3 hours during their timezone's evening hours is a better game?

I understand the desired for good fights, but a return to such days seems like making eve more pf a job for many, not a game. That risks alienating the player base and does not see like a wise idea.



you have to remember too ... the market practically wasn't there, or at least not nearly like what we have today.

Going far enough back, you didn't have mining barges ... or T2 fittings weren't that prevalent...

so, for example, Red Federation wanted a thorax BPO to stick it to those blues ...

EVERYONE in the corp would be doing whatever they could in order to scratch together enough ISK for the BPO ... then they'd all be working to get the minerals... in frigates with T1 lasers, maybe the richer people have some meta modules, or a cruiser... the richest 1 or 2 people might even have a battleship...

One of the bitter points of a good bittervet is the realisation that all those SP don't really do much, and that the newbie is having much more fun with what little he has. - Tippia
monkfish2345
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#20 - 2013-03-21 14:21:41 UTC
Velicitia wrote:
Lady Ayeipsia wrote:
Nova Satar wrote:
bigger and better.

Prime example is: If you wanted your stuff moved down to 0.0, you would form a gang, get a freighter and escort it down there. You'd fight off small raiding gangs if you could, and have to battle your way past larger ones. These days you undock, right click and jump to destination.

Which do you think makes for a better game? The answer is obvious, but EVE is too busy for fun features now, so a better game is neither achievable or profitable.


So you are saying a logistic nightmare for larger alliances and groups in nul is your idea of a better game? Alarm clock ops, which only dedicated players can make is a better game than one where even casual players who can contribute 3 hours during their timezone's evening hours is a better game?

I understand the desired for good fights, but a return to such days seems like making eve more pf a job for many, not a game. That risks alienating the player base and does not see like a wise idea.



you have to remember too ... the market practically wasn't there, or at least not nearly like what we have today.

Going far enough back, you didn't have mining barges ... or T2 fittings weren't that prevalent...

so, for example, Red Federation wanted a thorax BPO to stick it to those blues ...

EVERYONE in the corp would be doing whatever they could in order to scratch together enough ISK for the BPO ... then they'd all be working to get the minerals... in frigates with T1 lasers, maybe the richer people have some meta modules, or a cruiser... the richest 1 or 2 people might even have a battleship...


Again from my experience slightly further down the road, but consider the whole ASCN titan thing.

that first titan loss caused the collapse of the biggest alliance in game.

these days, almost every serious alliance has access to atleast 1 titan, with the biggest fielding 10 - 20 which they can replace if lost.

i wish people still had a reason to really work towards a great goal, at the beginning it was a cruiser or a bs, but the concept is the same, it brings a corp or alliance together and equally it can all be lost.
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