Well its a good simulation.. but is it really a fun game? Opinions differ ;p
Imo a game where corporate abuse and industrial espionage is part of the gameplay is a recipe to depressed gamers. I said it many times before but i think Eve would be the far better game without any other players
Ie, as a SP Game.
I just want to look at space battles and do basic trading. It took me 2 hours of thinking to make 150 million credits in eve (on my free trial ,p). I didn't even move my ship, just trades. That was fun, but the problem is i don't want to play a trading simulation (which is kinda required if you don't join a corporation).
If you don't have time for a corporation then you might as well never bother with eve. Which is why, i think it would be far superior as SP game with story missions and lots of free-roaming dynamic universe.