Over at Meta Magic Studio, it has been decided that we needed to pick a new MMORPG that the whole company would try out, so we could all experience a “new” game at the same time as part of our team building process. After a week of discussions and insults, we were all unanimous that we wanted to play Spore. But of course, it is not out yet.

So on Monday at our wrap up meeting, we picked Eve Online. Our stated goal was to try out the initial 14 day free trial and all five of us are “required” to spend at least five hours over the next week with the game.  I think this is a great way to learn about each others approaches to on-line worlds and to see how each person approaches various issues.

Now I know nothing about Eve Online.  In fact, I was worried that it might be a girlie game.  But i checked out the site and was very happy to see space ships.

So I will be keeping a record of my experience here on the blog. At 12:43 am on Tuesday, May 13th, I signed up and began the download. Being original - not at all - I will be Banana Stein in this world.

As the download began - 30 minutes initial estimate - I looked through the site to find what I could read. The back story is where I began:

VE - EXODUS

EVE takes place in a cluster of stars far from mankind’s original habitat, planet Earth. How far away, and whether or not that cradle of civilization still exists, is a mystery. Humans arrived through a natural wormhole and, gazing up upon an alien sky they had never seen, were completely unable to determine where this new world was located. From the New Eden solar system, where the gate of EVE once led to the old world, humans expanded in all directions at a furious pace, exploring and colonizing rapidly.

Then, unexpectedly and seemingly unprovoked, the EVE gate collapsed in an apocalyptic catastrophe of a scale never before witnessed by the human race, ruining the New Eden system in the process. Thousands of small colonies were left in complete isolation to fend for themselves, cut off from the old world. For millennia they endured, clinging to the brink of extinction, and only a handful managed to survive.

Of those that lasted, five were to rise up and become the major empires that, between them, hold the balance of power in the world of EVE. Today, they are known as the Amarr Empire, the Gallente Federation, the Caldari State, the Minmatar Republic, and the Jovian Empire. Additionally, the world is full of several small, independent factions and states.

For more than a century, the five empires have lived together in relative peace. They’ve continually strived to maintain this peace, as each faction realizes only too well the grave consequences of a massive inter-stellar war. Recent technological breakthroughs in FTL travel, and the ensuing increase in space travelers, have shaken, but not broken, the fragile peace… at least not yet.

Sounds like an interesting time.  I will keep you all posted on our little experiment.  My only fear is another addiction…..