In 0.0 it's captials everywhere. People mine in Rorquals, people do PvE in Carriers and Supers. If you tackle a small ships doing PvE it opens a cyno and Captials jump in.
They now have fighters that have good applications against smaller ships. So the good old rock paper scissors for shipssize in eve is not more.
Still a diverse game, from solo to large fleet fights. I have my fun.
The last time i logged in, a couple of years back. I contemplated moving my shit to somewhere else to where one of the few people i knew was still playing but the jump fatigued meant that would take half my life. I get the whole point of trying to limit force projection cos it was very daft with every encounter in 0.0 finishing with PL, NC or Goons dropping in their super fleets. But logistics for the common player is awkward :( It would likely take me many days of gathering and moving shit to get into a position to actually play the game again haha. not fun.
Also just sell your stuff and rebuy it. You don't need many ships to have some fun.
Roaming is .. not that common any more. What we do is live in a Wormhole, jump into 0.0 and try to tackle something big and hope they form a defense fleet.
Roll the hole to get a new 0.0 exit. Rinse and repeat
Nor is gatecamping because some genius decided that instawarping bubble immunity (with optional covops cloak functionality) was a good idea so people could move through null in virtually perfect safety.
There have been so many changes which I find fundamentally stupid that it's hard for me to engage with the game these days. One day I'll probably play for a bit again though
Edit: Also people stil gatecamp.
And every guide for the game basically starts with "Subscribe, and don't log in for 3 months while you get your newbie pilot some basic skills, or if you do log in, don't do much because you're useless anyway"
Three. Months. How can a game be basically unplayable for newbies for ninety days?
Meh. Time gated games are never fun. The only thing worse than grinding in the game is having to grind hours out of the game.
The basic concept is still the same though. You skill with time. Which is nice, because sometimes I don't play for weeks. No "I have to grind X hours" to be on pair with my friends.
But yes, they've made it a lot easier to just hop in without the need to train for anything.
This really isn't true (at least it wasn't some years ago when I last played). What's true though is that the game is complex and does a terrible job of explaining itself. Unless you already know experienced players, the activities immediately available to you as a new player have no resemblance to the "real" game.
It's up to you to explore, get yourself blown up (a lot, ideally), figure out what you're doing, and find a niche. There's plenty to do as a new player that doesn't require months of skill points.
If it winds up speaking to you, the game is absurdly fun and absorbing. I burned out on it years ago, and still remember specific fights and weird adventures I got into.
Edit: My experience as a new player is years out of date, hopefully it's better now. But the real learning curve is always going to be steep.
But i don't feel the game has the same dynamic as it had in 2008-2010. But i also quit at that time too, so who knows...