EVE online is the best MMO

I'd like to say that I, too, was with you on this a short time ago. However, a few key realizations have made me change my mind. First, I'll respond to each statement of yours: >>With an amazing and original skill system<< I wouldn't say it's "amazing." The skills system discourages you from using multiple characters by only allowing you to train one skill across your entire account. The skill system makes you as powerful as the amount of time you've been playing, which, oddly enough, is directly proportional to the amount of money you've paid CCP. While this is good from their perspective, it's not good from the perspective of a player. It sucks for new players, since they know they'll ever be able to become "uber." This is the goal of many MMO players. It sucks for veterans because they're forced into keeping their subscription just because they don't want to throw away all that time spent skill training. >>that forces casual and hardcore players to train at the same pace<< This only means that the veterans will always be ahead of those who came after them. It seems you wanted this statement to establish some kind of equality, but it only highlights the _perpetual_ inequality between veterans and newer players. >>a new beautiful graphics engine<< It does look good, but the color banding is truly annoying. See this for what I mean: http://fm.dureiku.org... View it at full size (you might have to click it once it loads) and look at the entire right side of the screen. Keep in mind, I'm using the highest quality settings on 1920x1200. I should not be seeing such noticeable color banding. Either way, the graphics _are_ great. they're about on par for space games, which always tend to look awesome (freelancer, X3:reunion, etc.) >>a fun and challenging PvP system<< Like most MMO's, the outcome of a battle is based largely on who has better skills and equipment. Not game-playing skills, ingame skills for your character. This is amplified by the fact that you don't directly control your ship (via WASD or other means) but instead order your ship to move to places. It comes down to who has the time invested to get the helpful skills, and who has the ISK (money) to buy the good ships and equips. This is not challenging, nor would I say it's fun. >>an interesting backstory<< Perhaps it's interesting, but the lore of EVE pales in comparison to other MMO's - WoW, Guild Wars, probably FFXI, etc. In addition to not having the most interesting backstory, it has the LEAST interesting ingame story. Since the universe is largely player-based, there really is no major story. Backstory is the only story this game has. >>the single largest MMO server with as many as 35,000 players online at one time<< This does not affect how good of a game it is. >>and player driven economy EVE online is the best MMO out there.<< Player-driven economies have their advantages and disadvantages. They encourage ISK-sellers, since it's easy to get ISK once you have ISK in a player-driven economy. Prices tend to be unrealistic, since players are very unlikely to buy that 2nd-best battlecruiser. Unlike in real life, people need the best they can get. Also, a player-driven economy doesn't make the game any more fun. And I think that's what we all play games for - entertainment. And now my offense: EVE online is simply boring. With no active story, no direct ship control, and the most repetitive gameplay in a modern-day MMO, there's no way any other MMO could touch the boring level of EVE. Guild Wars and WoW both beat it overall, since they have real storyline, real control, and a real, lore-based goal. Sure, these games might become repetitive once you've beaten the game, but it takes a lot longer than it takes EVE to get repetitive, which is almost immediately.