That's cheating.
(But this is still way cool- I hope the go for a rematch with better servers)
At any given time, there are 30,000 to 40,000 (on average, the number can break 50,000) characters online.
Actually, that’s a feature. Otherwise, the server would crash from the load. . . (Former EVE player)
Just think of it as all the captains being on speed.
Not really, since both sides experienced the same adjustment.
Eve isn't a "twitch" game like a first-person shooter. You don't "aim" at opponents: you target them, and the game engine inflicts damage based on probabilities that account for distance, weapon and ammo attributes, and even the relative mostion between the two ships.
In big space battles like this, the biggest problem is lag: you don't get status updates fast enough to determine success or failure and initiate your next action. For example, you are concentrating fire on a dreadnought, but once it is destroyed, you want to switch to the next target as soon as possible.
Or you have been targeted yourself, and want to withdraw and repair/recharge instead of being destroyed. If you don't get timely status updates, you could be destroyed without any warning.
CCP has invested a lot of effort in reducing lag. But, it's a classic conundrum: there are always bigger battles. :-)
Actually it is a really amazing feature. They implemented it a couple years ago when lag was hurting big battles. The servers intelligently dilate time as the number of players in a system ramps up. So that location in the virtual world starts moving at a deliberately slower time than everywhere else. The game stays smooth and the battle is still playable.
Is this the game where a guy turned a meteorite into a vacation resort and sold it for major real cash?