EVE is massive in every sense of the word. Over 500,000 subscribers exploring more than 7,000 star systems. Three games spanning PC and consoles, incorporating immense space battles, interstellar trading, FPS action, and even that futuristic VR face-furniture, Oculus Rift.
The EVE_NT, an offline meet-up for Eve fans, is only in its second year but is already drawing players to Nottingham from across the country to celebrate their favourite MMO. Taking over the bar and second floor of Antenna, Nottingham's technological hub, developers CCP went to great lengths to make their games and themselves available to fans. Upstairs, comfortable lounges host games of Eve's sister titles Dust 514 and Valkyrie, but the main event is in the bar. The tournament.
It takes me a while to acclimatise. My lack of a player handle causes confusion at the door. Everyone here is identified by their screen name. Wiggles, Ithaca Hawk, Drake Pilot. The names are cute, mythological, esoteric. A million miles away from the proliferation of TopSnipah69 and KillerBaddy1 and their ilk found in Call of Duty. The crowd is older than expected, but then EVE has now been up and running for more than ten years.
One of the event sponsors adorns posters left and right. Chillblast. I assume it's an energy drink, but it turns out it's a supercooled PC. The room is cold and I can't decide if the air conditioning is working overtime or if the supercooled PCs are super effective. Detailed screenshots of the available ships and their respective loadouts dominate one wall, allowing competitors to plan their strategies. I try to derive meaning from the pages of tiny, complex symbols and statistics, but to me it is hieroglyphics.
When the tournament fixtures and rules are announced, I feel more grounded. These are parameters I can understand: a strictly designated playing area, match time-limits and ships pre-fitted and balanced by the CCP team to avoid anyone having an unfair advantage. An interesting element, different to any other esport tournament I've seen, is the randomisation of team members. All prospective tournament entrants submit their names and are paired at random by a CCP rep. They may be team mates who have played together for a decade, or complete strangers with totally unknown playstyles. The fixtures are announced to whoops and cheers from the crowd. The accompanying musical playlist is inspired. After several minutes of Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine I'm ready to see some spaceships explode.
The first match begins. The commentator says the word 'rupture' over and over again. I initially think he's referring to the damaged hull, slowly degrading under sustained missile fire, but slowly come to realise 'Rupture' is a type of ship. A lot of players seem to favour this design, although others crop up too. Kestrel, Punisher, Maulus, Executioner... did he just say Melon? With the announcer's thick Scottish accent it's hard to tell. The battle is not what I expected, owing more to the ponderous, strategic movements of 16th century galleons waging war with cannons than the frenetic X-Wing dogfights I'd anticipated. The first match ends in a draw, prompting discussions over how to determine who's been knocked out. In the end it's down to a coin toss. I expect this to prompt annoyance, complaints of unfairness, demands of a rematch, but nobody minds. Winners and losers shake hands and return to their drinks.
The matches are surprisingly compelling. There's something hypnotic about a hulking vessel slowly crumpling and burning under a hail of railgun fire, until its inevitable demise when it bursts apart in a shower of blackened shrapnel. I can't tell who is who or what strategy is being employed, but I'm enjoying myself nevertheless. The battles are brief, the ships are beautiful and both are varied. The crowd spots a rules violation and call out in protest. The referee agrees and the offender is disqualified, but again this is accepted with incredible good humour. This is not my experience of online gaming and it's making me want to give EVE a try.
I wonder if this is where CCP have been really smart. Sure their games are vast and gorgeous and cater to a wide range of players and tastes. But the lush visuals and the sprawling game world aren't the focus of EVE_NT. Many of the games industry events I've attended are eye-banging assaults on the senses that scream SHOOT STUFF!!! BE A HERO!!! BUY OUR GAMES!!! But EVE_NT is far more low-key than that. From the mixing up of the tournament players to CCP's quiet mingling with their fans, to the relaxed, inviting atmosphere of the gaming lounges, everything is geared towards social interaction rather than rampant consumerism or arrogant one-upmanship. Perhaps this is what sets EVE apart from other online communities and will help secure its future while other big hitters such as World of Warcraft and Guildwars struggle to maintain their player base. EVE's community is a community in the true sense of the word and that can only be a good thing.
EVE_NT 2 took place on Saturday 7 February 2015 at Antenna in Nottingham.
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