Atop the Curve

"Eve is complicated."
“No. Eve is not complicated. It is easy.”

I see this comment a lot. A lot a lot. People tell me that Eve is not complicated at all and is an easy game. They say that Eve Is complex, but not complicated. Okay. I decided to start my blog post with a lot of defined words.

complicated

1. composed of elaborately interconnected parts; complex (complicated apparatus for measuring brain functions.)
2. difficult to analyze, understand, explain, etc. (a complicated problem.)

complex

1. composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite (a complex highway system.)
2. characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement of parts, units, etc. (complex machinery.)
3. so complicated or intricate as to be hard to understand or deal with (a complex problem.)

 simple

1. easy to understand, deal with, use, etc. (a simple matter; simple tools.)
2. not elaborate or artificial; plain: (a simple style.)
3. not ornate or luxurious; unadorned (a simple gown.)
4. unaffected; unassuming; modest (a simple manner.)
5. not complicated (a simple design.)

 easy

1. not hard or difficult; requiring no great labor or effort: a book that is easy to read; an easy victory.
2. free from pain, discomfort, worry, or care: He led an easy life.
3. providing or conducive to ease or comfort; comfortable: an easy stance; an easy relationship.
4. fond of or given to ease; easygoing: an easy disposition.
5. not harsh or strict; lenient: an easy master.

One of the side effects of learning to do something is that it becomes easy because you know it. Putting up a POS, calculating POS fuel, loading it all up, and starting my booster reactions is something that I would call time consuming but easy enough to do. However, the first time I did it, it was none of those things. It was not easy until I learned how to do it and began to regularly manage things.

Just because someone can do something with the comfort and speed of familiarity and knowledge does not invalidate the complexity of what they are doing.

It is similar to IRL where you screw yourself at work by getting so good at what you do that it looks as if it takes no effort. The end product just materializes. Why do they even need you there to do it when it just happens? If it is a hard task why does it seem so easy, simple, and quickly done?

It is a trap that we sink to often into in life and in games. People (sometimes) have hidden talents. In a game like Eve players find out that they are great FCs, amazing leaders, capable marketeers, organized industrialists, scouts of note, and everything else under the sun. Yet, learning something or naturally having an aptitude to it does not cancel out its inherent complexities.

Eve is a complicated game. Even if it is a complex shell around a simple concept that does not mean it is not complicated. However, complicated does not mean insurmountable. It does not mean unlearnable. It does not mean that it cannot be mastered. It does not mean that only a select few golden children will ever be able to figure it out. Savants will always occur. But one cannot stand upon the hill of experience, knowledge, and time and scream that it is easy just because it is now easy or because one aspect has always been east to you.

I cannot wrap my mind around a proper PI setup that produces anything in any meaningful way. I have failed over and over again. I'm frustrated enough that I'm about to ask someone to hold my hand and walk me through it. My eyes glaze about it when I read or listen to another related to it. I find PI to be complex. Yet, I know some people who grasp it from the moment they glance over the rules and produce with nary a hair disturbed on their coiffed head. While my bulb may not be the brightest it is not out. I refuse to accept that someone is just stupid if they don't catch onto something that another considers easy. Or that the subject is automatically easy and simple because it is to someone else.

The argument about complexity in the game and accessibility is separate from the descriptive discussion that asks if the game is complicated. By the definition of the words, yes. Eve is complicated. But no part of that definition means that it is  unconquerable. And there is a certain amount of arrogance attached to it as well. Perhaps... a rather weighty bit.