I tried it out the last time there was a big war and the game really is one of those things that aren't worth the time. I thought I'd like the game more if I could play it while jogging! All the progress is overcoming one gatekeeping mechanism or another. The wikis are full of the 'correct' playstyles, which just disincentivizes what I was after, the fantasy of freely adventuring through space.

Maybe if you got into the social side of it, but playing boardgames feels like it's superior at scratching that itch of getting to compete and collaborate with others in a game.

Lots of aspects I enjoyed other games do better. I liked space roaming and ship fitting, but honestly Star Control II was simpler and more fun with real sense of exploring the galaxy, that had interesting characters. Getting to influence '"real" events? Most good single player games. Collecting stuff with a crew? Animal Crossing, honestly.

Lots of things in Eve made me feel like "that's not why we play games".