The good news, though, is that (to an extent) EVE Online is the game that Freelancer should have been. Basically you begin the game with a starter spaceship, a cheap railgun to defend yourself, a mining laser to extract valuable minerals from rocks and an absolutely huge universe to explore. Where you go from there is entirely up to you. The basic premise behind EVE is that you don't actually play the game -- you live it. While there is an overarching storyline and certain things will happen to various sectors as the game continues, in effect that has little effect on day to day happenings within the game. Players have absolute freedom to develop skills and choose careers ranging from miner to pirate to mercenary to researcher to corporate CEO.