I’d be down for something like this on a PVE realm where your own actions are typically what lead to your death. I’m less enthusiastic on a PvP realm with permadeath but I understand the current version isn’t for me and that’s okay too.
A game came out recently (called Palia) that essentially forces you to make “pals” to achieve certain things and even be able to gather certain resources. My other half has been playing it and was complaining about the “forced” interaction in the game and I told her similar things to what you’re saying about Eve, that interacting with others to achieve goals will actually become the best part of the game in the long term.
I’ve also been playing Eve like 10+ years myself and every time I think I’ve won it I haven’t yet.
One of the best aspects of the game is the community around it though, rather than the actual gameplay. In fact, a lot of the gameplay is rather stale these days.
There are an absolute ton of games on Steam that cover the exploring and doing quests vibe and the amount of combat in them varies from none to some but not the main focus of the game. Here’s a few I’ve tried:
The situation kind of reminds me of titty streamers on Twitch. Everybody seemingly “hates” them yet they make an absolute killing regardless, because the silent majority think it’s perfectly fine.
I’ve wondered the same thing for a while. Procedural dungeons in fully 3D in a fantasy setting would be great and it’s weird that it doesn’t exist at least as a modern game.
Wayfinder kinda is like this but I’m not sure if it’ll fully scratch that itch in the end.
Usually because they want to sell you cosmetics and other junk and the only way to ensure you don’t just mod it in for free is to make the game phone home and verify itself constantly.