EVE Online
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 15 MMORPGs by recommenders
People recommend it for its player-driven economy, lasting multiplayer drama and real stakes. Critics agree it is a major time sink, and some find the performance and learning curve poor.
People recommend it for its player-driven economy, lasting multiplayer drama and real stakes. Critics agree it is a major time sink, and some find the performance and learning curve poor.
75 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 52
- criticize it
- 23
- approval share
- 69%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 11 years
Median of the 7 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 52 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Memorable multiplayer experiences and friendships
“I still consider it some of the best multiplayer experiences I've ever had though.”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “EVE Online's Carbon engine is now open source: Fenris Creations explains why” “I still consider it some of the best multiplayer experiences I've ever had”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “EVE Online's Carbon engine is now open source: Fenris Creations explains why” “I've made some of the best friends playing it when I had time”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “EVE Online's Carbon engine is now open source: Fenris Creations explains why” Player-driven economy and sovereignty
“the game's economy seems to be managed well enough. Cost of having stuff transported is still 1M / jump.”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “EVE Online's Carbon engine is now open source: Fenris Creations explains why” “the pvp and economy and soverignty of eve, and that would have been amazing”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “No Man's Sky Cosmos” “EVE on the other hand would be a perfect economic environment.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “RuneScape Bench: MMOs for Agents [video]” Real risk and loss
“You had to earn it, and if you lost it, that was that.”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Moongate – Ultima Online server emulator in .NET 10 with Lua scripting” “that was the thing that made the game feel real”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “EVE Online moves to Python 3” “Being in actual danger and at risk for loss.”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 on Hacker News Persistent, alive player-driven world
“You see what Eve has done, just let structures live so long as no one blows it up.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Outside, Dungeon, Town: Integrating the Three Places in Videogames (2024)” “everything I read about it just makes it seem so much more alive than other MMOs”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “EVE Online moves to Python 3” “One of Eve Online's strengths is that it conforms gameplay to the MMO setting.”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “EVE Online's Carbon engine is now open source: Fenris Creations explains why”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Time sink that consumes free time
“It was an amazing game back then, my only issue being my inability to not spend all free time in it.”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 on Hacker News “I enjoyed it way too much and would spend nearly all my free time playing it”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “EVE Online moves to Python 3” “It's a time sink, where much of the gameplay happens outside the game”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “EVE Online's Carbon engine is now open source: Fenris Creations explains why” - Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Cow Plays EVE Online and I Don't Know If She's Winning or Not”
Performance and stability problems
“The proposed solution to 2.4M lines of python is.. more python, with the primary motivation being "performance" lol”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “EVE Online moves to Python 3” “The server isn't fast enough and it ends up slowing the game down to 10% speed as a workaround.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “EVE Online moves to Python 3” “EvE Online wasn't stable until I switched the renderer from D3D12 to D3D11”
Comment from 6 Sep 2026 in “Windows 11's "special" developer edition looks like another marketing misfire” Toxic corporations and cutthroat players
“Eve online makes me sick, its corporations are everything I hate in the real world”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “No Man's Sky Cosmos” “The fellow I knew who hit it huge in EVE Online was a casualty of another kind.”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “The Case Against Gameplay Loops”
Other MMORPGs people recommend
The four most recommended other MMORPGs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World of Warcraft | 67 | 65 | 51% | 12 | 20 yrs5 owners | — |
| EVE OnlineThis page | 52 | 23 | 69% | 11 | 11 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| Ultima Online | 44 | 5 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| RuneScape | 35 | 18 | 66% | 8 | 20 yrs3 owners | — |
| Old School RuneScape | 22 | 3 | 88% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 80 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“EVE on the other hand would be a perfect economic environment.”
“the pvp and economy and soverignty of eve, and that would have been amazing”
“Eve online makes me sick, its corporations are everything I hate in the real world”
“EvE Online wasn't stable until I switched the renderer from D3D12 to D3D11”
“It is truly one of the most magnificent time mulchers known to Man.”
“Eve was never bottlenecked on processing speed of its physics or business logic.”
“I rebooted my 2006 character last weekend and have been having a blast”
“It was an amazing game back then, my only issue being my inability to not spend all free time in it.”
“Being in actual danger and at risk for loss.”
“Eve still is great - haven't had time lately but I got really into it last year and had a blast”
“The server isn't fast enough and it ends up slowing the game down to 10% speed as a workaround.”
“the eve client is pretty incredibly well made these days”
“I think that would be an incredible experience all unto its own”
“everything I read about it just makes it seem so much more alive than other MMOs”
“that was the thing that made the game feel real”
“I quickly felt overwhelmed. I just can't imagine them getting many new players”
“I enjoyed it way too much and would spend nearly all my free time playing it”
“The proposed solution to 2.4M lines of python is.. more python, with the primary motivation being "performance" lol”
“I've always wondered if an MMO version of it, like EVE but with the interface/graphics of EV, would work.”
“it's without a doubt the greatest MMO I've ever played but I would never play it again”
“loved more the idea of the game than the reality of it so I couldn't handle it for long periods”
“I loved more the idea of the game than the reality of it so I couldn't handle it for long periods”
“I think I giggled for about 3 hours after that, and recalling the story brought a smile to my face.”
“I still consider it some of the best multiplayer experiences I've ever had”
“The new player experience is quite nice now a days.”
“It's a time sink, where much of the gameplay happens outside the game”
“One of Eve Online's strengths is that it conforms gameplay to the MMO setting.”
“I still consider it some of the best multiplayer experiences I've ever had though.”
“the game's economy seems to be managed well enough. Cost of having stuff transported is still 1M / jump.”
“I've made some of the best friends playing it when I had time”
“I love EVE for that sort of nullsec drama and sociopathic players eating each other in crazed gambits”
“games I would meaningfully like to play even if the companies decided they didn't want to run them anymore”
“I would meaningfully like to play even if the companies decided they didn't want to run them anymore”
“The fellow I knew who hit it huge in EVE Online was a casualty of another kind.”
“the game works beautifully (graphics and all) on Linux”
“You had to earn it, and if you lost it, that was that.”
“Eve Online accomplished something a little more combat-focused, but similarly diverse in playstyle”
“You see what Eve has done, just let structures live so long as no one blows it up.”
“It sounds like you want to play EVE Online, but as a guy with a sword rather than a guy in a spaceship.”
“Eve online pulls off certain aspects of this pretty well.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.