If you think I'm about to compare a battle axe to a laser then you should seek help. I'd rather point out a few differences between the way you interact in the two games.
World of Warcraft
In my WoW years I was able to do everything myself (apart from instances and raids).
There was no problems in having any number of toons with the different professions and making a ton of gold. Also it was almost idiot proof to make gold on the AH (Auction House) by flipping items or selling crafts or materials as people didn't want to gather them.
Some might even agree that WoW is a social one player game (or a really huge chat client!) in many aspects. It's more or less only if you play current content (or PvP) you need anyone to group with.
But the PvP in WoW is a bit... meh.
In Azeroth everything is focused on the endgame. Leveling a character is something that just needs to be done before you grind for gear that make you able to "slay the dragon". That is the obvious downside to endgame content. Everything else is simply in the way as the game doesn't really start till you're in current/endgame content.
EVE Online
As a new player in EVE I've noticed that it's not as simple to make your own empire as in WoW. This is mainly due to the way you train skills and the fact that you can only have one character per account training at any given time. There's no way to make a grind to level a profession in a few hours. It takes time and a lot of it!
The main character in EVE is trained with a great deal of focus as you can't just visit a class trainer and redo your talents for a few gold if some boss is being a bitch. So you have to figure out (at some point) what kind of missions you want to do if you want perfection in time spend in missions.
- in other words you shouldn't train directly for a freighter of you want to do missions that need firepower.
New Eden doesn't only bring PvP - it brings WvP (World vs Player). If the right bounty is on your head you have to look over your shoulder every step you take or sleep with your finger on the trigger.
A feature that make players trust other players - but the most trusted player may be the one sealing your fate.
- it's a game within the game.
But there's one thing that makes EVE really special to me. NOTE: This is where I get people to hate me.
It has no endgame. From the second you start playing you're a part of what EVE is: a sandbox game.
You can do everything but that's not to be adviced though as it will get you killed more than once. But in reality there's no "high level I pwn ya all" endgame.
You can live in high, low or null sec if you feel like it. There's nothing stopping you.
I know some of the null sec players will argue this no-endgame-talk but that's up to them. I mean if it's so endgame to fight epic battles in null sec why don't they have the balls to do just that and not fly into high sec to kill miners?
The only true endgame to PvP is fighting another player in the same SP (Skill Point) range. Then it's about player skill that can bring the real epic battles.
Maybe after I've played EVE for another year I might have a different view on some of the things I write about here - but I'll never live and fight in null sec just to take a trip into high sec in order to show off.
Bonus info: since I've turned my updates into a blog I'll skip the update numbers.
I'm enjoying Eve at the moment as well, having moved from WoW recently myself. It's a definite shift in mindset from most other MMO's and is unforgiving in many ways but compelling in its depth. The sheer range of game dynamics is what's so interesting I think, my own view being that this is because gameplay is driven by the players and the way they organise rather than the game designers and the encounters they program.
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