I have over 10 years experience in playing MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), and this game is by far the worst one I have played. There are a lot of cool aspects about the game, namely focused around exploration. However, this game is primarily a PvP game. As a generalization, PvP tends to produce more negative in-game interactions than PvE focused games. Children may not care about this, but parents should. What I feel makes Eve Online particularly bad, is that the game design is absolutely terrible with regards to most new players. Most MMOs frown upon camping other players in PvP. What Eve Online players call "ganking" is actually camping. Ganking in other games, usually involves killing a lower level player and then moving on. Leaving the defeated player alone after one kill. Eve Online (company name is CCP and is owned by a Korean parent company) has decided that gate camps and station camps are good places for PvP to occur. As an example, you come out of a gate (load screen) to find someone in a carrier (which takes over a year to obtain) and you get complete blown up. You lose your ship and any time or money you have invested in that ship. New players can do nothing to compete one vs. one, and are forced to join corporations. On top of this, players are continually trying to scam or rip off other players. And, young players would not only be prime targets but will also be learning very personally destructive lessons, in-game. In the end, bad game design coupled with bad game ethics means that this is one game to avoid.
2 people found this helpful. Helpful ReportAs a long time player I believe that this game could be acceptable for thos 16 and up. Many people experience poor gamesmanship and poor attitudes however this is not always the case. The group of people that the young person ( or adult) plays with is key. Having run several Organizations within this game I can verify that many simply wont accept those under 18 but those that do generally are not evil, mean or even downright nasty. The anonymity of the internet culture can get people to act poorly but there are good people out there who could make this game fun for those 16 and up in age. It is NOT for everyone
I'm an EVE player Been playing for a year an a half. For those who got basic knowledge of that game universe, I've traveled to Nullsec, spent a year in a wormhole, sent an alt to see the ruins of the EVEgate, flew stealth bombers, participated in combat in fleet of more than 10 players vs even bigger fleets, and more. This game has A LOT of issues, and CCP, the company, simply does not want to fix them, because of internal politics involving the group of players who turns out to have the most monthly subscription. First of all, this game requires your ingame character to learn skills to operate ships, modules, and such. Those skills can take WEEKS and MONTHS and even a YEAR in real life to train to a decent level. Worst, if you want to make any decent accomplishment in that game, you need to invest many hours EACH DAYS. This isnt the kinds of game you'll play for half a hour and they get back to whatever you do in real life. Most people I know ingame spend six hours and more, and they barely make a living ingame. Even worst, the ingame bullying is omnipresent, and, once you leave your "rookie system" (the place where you start and get basic tutorial and such), you have no real protection and CCP is closed minded on helping players who fall victims of various in game scams and exploits outside "rookie system". And, most players making a decent living in game are the ones using unofficial add-ons and mods (read: cheats), so it's a prime exemple of "Crime pays". Regarding moral values. Well, EVE got a complete universe in it, including EVERYTHING in real life. The Amarr are slave runners, and you will actually get to enslave innocent cilivials. Pirates do stuff pirates do in real life: traffic drugs, hold brothels, old style gladiator combat and such. Those are themes you will encounter, and though most are not graphically reprensented, they are aborded and omnipresent. So, unless you want to be the proud parent of a bully, avoid this game. I wouldnt even recommend it to an adult, but for various other reasons. Besides, I'd also like to point out that the montly subscribtion, after over a year, turns out to be a lot of money, and you have to add to this A LOT of purchassing assets on CCP website with real money (Aurum and PLEX) to sell them in game in order to have a capital.
I've been a long time gamer. Whereas, face value, this has a well earned "T for Teen" as it is mild in sex, violence, drugs, etc., the rules of the game, being non-existent, encourage players to be terrible to one another. For those worried about "consumerism," this is not the game to allow youth to play, because it involves nothing but. There are not really NPC missions to pursue of any substance, other than attacking a few pirate ships. The main part of the game is gaining large fleets and taking on other fleets. What is of most concern for parents is the behavior between players encouraged by CCP, the games parent company. CCP freely has created an environment where gang warfare, extortion, harassment, spying, theft, stalking, and manipulation of other players is not only freely allowed, but is actively encouraged. Added to this, new players may find that one poorly composed sentence may make other players believe that you are some other player who has committed some heinous in game crime, like the theft of $16000 worth of merchandise from a corp or otherwise. Privacy is of utmost importance, as all corporations demand access to other players' wallets and transaction histories to see if that player is a spy for another group. As CCP allows scamming, this can make your child a target for scams or theft due to the fact that CCP openly streams to third party software any information which a player provides. And, given that all corporations you join require you to give them an access code to your "online API" which allows them to view your wallet and market transactions, your child's in-game financial situation will be available for any player who wants to see it, regardless of his personal ethos regarding theft and con-artistry. The game is good for those who like openly hostile environments and spy games, but if you're not entering the game with a large group of people you know, it is unlikely that anyone will trust you and everyone will be suspicious of you. I bought a six month subscription, thinking the game was extremely fun and complex after several days on trial. I played for about three weeks before I finally decided I didn't want to spend money on hanging out with some of the worst people the internet has to offer. CCP takes a very low look at harassment, for example, when the heads of one of the major alliances publicly gave out chat logs of a player who had admitted he was suicidal, gave out the player's name, and then encouraged other players to continue to destroy his ship as much as possible: CCP gave him a 30 day suspension. Whereas I believe with the particular player, being extremely high profile, this was probably acceptable as he learned how swiftly he can get punished and he payed the harassed player an inordinate amount of cash, it is one of the many examples as to why this game is not for teens. It should always be known that all in game money has an out of game component, game time may be purchased from CCP and sold in game for in-game money. One of the biggest heists of other players' stuff has amounted to $16,000. Several players infiltrated a players' corp, lured her to a remote region of space in her most expensive ship. They subsequently attacked and destroyed her ship and then stole everything from the corporation, a grand total of $16,000 worth of in-game items and money. These are just a few examples how singular players will be and can be massively victimized by groups engaging in massively unethical behavior at any moment. Please Google "Eve Online Suicidal Player" before deciding if you want your teen learning real life criminal and gang harassment skills and practicing them on real people.