Cinematically there are two types of combat, the flashy cgi storm that ends quickly in a fireball and the dramatic tension building fight where the opponents maneuver, fire, evade, counter fire, take hits, and rinse and repeat until one is victorious.
For the typical new Eve player, the former is all they see, less even. They jump, they are in a pod. No battle happens at all. Its not only frustrating, infuriating and potentially game ending, its boring as heck. The most dramatic thing in the game happened and it was DULL.
That is why I started playing the first time in 2005, and quit, tried again time and again, and quit.
And there is no reason for it.
People tell me the large battles are wonderful - because lag slows them down.
Well, why don’t you just slow the battles down with the code for ALL battles?
Do less damage, have more points of shield, armor and hull, more counter measures, more repair, drag the fight out so we get to see these beautiful toys do their thing. Maybe even put some variation into the resolution so that the underdog in the fight might win, or get away.
Because as it is right now, the central feature of the game sucks.
And its hard to make a case for paying fifteen bucks a month to craft - and hope I don’t get ganked hauling my materials around - in a fight I won’t even see happen.