I played years ago, was a member of a group that mined in worm holes. It's a great experience but you pretty much have to devote most of your life to it. The game has it's own real world currency, and it's taken pretty serious by anyone trying to make a profit. It can be great, but soul sucking and I have had more than a few friends go overboard with real life purchases just to get ahead in the game.
So would not recommend for a casual experience.
What you said is basically what I always believed about this game, as much as I always find it amazing from the outside.
As a semi-retired and eventual FFXI player (some demanding MMORPG game, which is not a game especially known for respecting the player's time, especially the older parts from the early 2000s), I always believed EVE had to be a painfully, incredibly difficult experience to sustain in your lifetime.
People who play EVE seriously, seem (I repeat, from the outside) to dedicate their WHOLE lives to it.
I'm not saying new dedicated players can't enter successfully in EVE, but EVE would only seem interesting to me if I was living alone, in a country like Iceland (from where its creators are), and for half of the year the sun didn't rise at all and the weather being bloody cold outside my home. Then, FOR SURE I will seriously try to play it. At least during some months a year (to evade me, just to not turn crazy).
I remember same years ago trying to play some free trial of EVE, and saying "Nope, that's not for me": Very complex to manage, and EXTREMELY demanding. It's basically a "full life" game. Too much to be considered just "a game".
