EVE online is the best MMO

Skills- You say that 'The best way to become uber is not through skills,' but this is utterly false. Skills (often high levels of them) are required for good equipment. Skills (often high levels of them) are required for good ships. Skills can increase your ship's power/CPU output, allowing you to equip better equipment on the same ship. Skills can increase the effectiveness of your guns - optimal range, damage output, firing speed, capacitor use, rocket velocity, etc. Skills can increase the defensive capabilities of your ship - hull/structure strength, shield strength, shield recharge rate, etc. Ship X can be worlds better simply based on the skills the player has. Skills are extremely important, and new players, regarless of how dedicated they are to the game, cannot learn skills any faster than the guy who logs in just to change what skill he's training. They are also at a permanent disadvantage to veterans - regardless of how dedicated these veterans are at playing. Subscription- You say that improving your character is part of the fun - I would say this is true for all other MMO's, but not EVE. In EVE, "improving your character" is usually done while not even at your computer. The player has no active part in the development of his character. The player has no reason to be proud, since the improvement did not come about through some difficult battle, but simply by time. Earning your improvements is much more fun. Graphics- You say that complaining about how space looks n a space game is like complaining about the water in WoW. However, this is utterly false. If WoW was an underwater MMO, that might be a valid comparison. If it was, I would definitely expect its water to be top quality, not some sub-par 16-bit texture. Eve does not win against other MMO's in graphics, simply because the bulk of the game - space - does not look good. Also, many space games have graphics comparable or better than EVE. X3: reunion definitely does. PvP- The bulk of the battle is decided beforehand by who has what equipped. Realtime strategy (which is implemented by means of indirect, bulky controls) is really only important in making sure you're a good rage from your enemy for your weapons to hit him. Unlike other MMO's, EVE doesn't have a wide array of skills (active skills, like spells). Skills of this sort add a huge amount of strategy to PvP, and they're what make almost all other MMO's better than EVE when it comes to PvP. In EVE, the strategy is lArgely "which weapons should I fire at which enemies, and where should I tell my ship to fly." Then, you basically have to wait. If there's one game a bot could easily master, it's EVE. Server size- You've agreed that this doesn't make EVE better than other MMO's. Also, Guild Wars effectively has one server (for each region of the world, at least). Places besides towns are 'instances,' much like the instances in WoW. It makes quests a lot more meaningful, since you won't have other players not in your party hunting the same boss right next to you, then waiting for it to spawn. I suppose EVE doesn't really suffer from this, since there aren't really bosses or really any important story mobs, due to the utter lack of a storyline. Player-driven economy- You apparently don't understand the EVE economy yourself. Mining is widely considered the most profitable profession. In fact, this is really the only way it could be, since if it wasn't, no one would mine. Mining sucks, there's absolutely no fun involved. It's the only way new resources get into the economy as well, so at least a certain percentage HAVE to mine. Otherwise, you won't be able to buy that ship or that weapon, since the materials needed for it aren't around. So basically, mining sucks, it's the most profitable, and your claim of 6-15 times more money being made by doing missions at the same level is dangerously wrong. If this were the case, people wouldn't mine, until the prices went up enough that mining WAS the best way to make money. Entertainment- I'd wager that most people play games to enjoy a scripted experience, to follow their characters through a storyline. If they wanted an open-ended experience where they set their own goals, they would simply get back to the real world. Controls- The controls are a major drawback for many gamers. Gamers like to claim they have skillz. In EVE, you can't be a good pilot or a bad pilot, you're just as good as anyone else. In EVE, you can't be good at operating weapons, you're just as good as everyone else. Instead of the player's skillz coming into play, the character's skills, the ones that supposedly aren't what make a player uber according to my opponent, do. People play MMO's to feel like they're awesome, and EVE just doesn't fulfill most people there. It also makes it hard to feel like you are your character, or to role-play, in other words. Community- Then you bring up the community. You say you can 'trust' pirates, but just what is it you can trust them to do? Their job description involves killing you. The only thing you kind of said is that they're unlikely to talk smack after they kill you. Whoop dee do. You lost your ship, I don't think it matters if you get taunted afterwards. Also, you say you can trust your average pirate, but I would say you can't even trust your average Joe. Due to the inability to allow someone access to your cargo containers (the only way to trade out in space), EVE has more scammers than any other game. Scamming is allowed as well. While this may seem cool at first, it loses its appeal when someone gets a bunch of friends to warp in and kill you once you open his cargo container. Also, 1v1's are often not respected. People often tell their friends to warp in and help when they're losing. the community, while it has its helpful members, is no better than that of any other MMO. I believe my opponent has faled to show ANY area in which EVE online beats other MMO's. Even if he did, he's asserting that it's the best overall. I'm not saying I know which MMO is the best, but it's surely not EVE.