I've played it for like a year or so, racking up around 1k hrs during that time. For me the best part, as you might expect from an MMO, is the people I've meet during that time. And this is coming from a pretty introverted person.

Our corporation (guild) at the time was a small tight knit group of about a dozen trying to build and live in wormhole space. For game mechanics reasons I won't get in to rn this required relative close communication between all members and even I, a newbie, contributed to the survival of our group. Due to timezone differences, and many persistent timers for in game things that kept ticking even while you're not logged in, we also kept frequent communications out the game which really added to the experience.

This is just one play style out of many in the game. Though most play styles involve you being part of a larger operation to help advance your alliance's goals. As a common saying in EvE, the best ship in the game is friendship.

Also at the time the developers were very good at player engagements. They had an in-house band that would release game related music, and had weekly (iirc) in-universe news about the changes to the game universe.

The intricacy of the game mechanics kind of ensure a similar-ish kind of people would keep playing the game I feel. All in all the sense of community was very strong.I understand it's not a game for everyone but I've had a great time.

If it's the video I'm thinking of, it was a really in-depth deep dive into the history of the game and the player-driven politics, drama and events. I don't play the game, but I found it very interesting to watch.

Flying spaceships around and shooting things! Learning curve is definitely steep but it's a lot of fun even while you're figuring out wtf you're doing, and there's tons of variety in what you can do.

It's 100% the people. I played every night with a close group of people I met on there for years. Once people started to fall off the game it got super boring. The "content" is socializing and doing dumb shit. The only way to win is to not play.

It's more fun when you are part of a big corp and involved in combat. You have to actually escort cargo you move or it can be stolen by other players. You have to actually protect your bases or they can be destroyed. Battles can be fucking huge, too. But it takes a while to get to the fun shit. But that's kinda how MMOs have always been.

From the point of view of a single player, you're a cog in the machine. You're paying to have a second job. From a meta point of view, the game generates a history similar to real life history. Clans conquer large areas of the world before a revolution/war results in another clan taking its place.