Eve Online - 6.10.85476

No one will argue that EvE isn't the toughest, most complicated game out there to learn. If you hate tutorials and reading instructions, manuals and guides, you'll be in hell—and you have to do these things, because although EvE is full of players that just love to answer questions, there are things that even the most patient newbie-mentor can't just explain via the in-game chat.

That said, EvE is also the single MMORPG that gives you the freedom to do almost anything, from building a business empire as a scheming CEO to exploring the (gigantic) galaxy in cloaked Covert Ops ships to living the life as a—YARR!—pirate and outlaw. Unlike other online games, EvE never forces you into a pre-defined role, and you have the choice between playing casually or sinking weeks at a time into the game.

The Mac client has become better of late, although there's no denying that certain stability issues continue to exist and that your mileage will vary greatly depending on your specific system. On the graphics side, Mac gamers can now enjoy premium graphics (more detailed ships and structures, etc), which make enough of a difference to give EvE that nice whole-new-game smell.

Last but not least, while EvE is not freeware (like most MMORPGs, a monthly fee is required to play), the fairly regular expansions to the game are provided free of charge. So, considering that in order to play WoW, you need to shell out about $40 for the client and each expansion plus the monthly subscription fee, EvE is not a bad deal at all.

It takes some time to get into, that's for sure. But EvE is to other MMORPGs what a wilderness trek is to a theme park ride. Harder, less comfortable, but much more rewarding and exciting.