What's neat to me in EVE is that when you run across another character, it's not necessarily immediately obvious how many skills that character has, or how they're distributed. Could be an expert at combat in that cheap little frigate. Could be a miner/trader in that battleship who can barely operate it. Not like "Ah, a level 44 mage, which means he definitely has abilities X, Y and Z." You also don't gain those skills by endlessly knitting sweaters or smashing goblins, so the person with less actual time to play throughout the week doesn't miss out because he's not farming/grinding. Additionally, I like that PvP has a risk factor to it, which adds to the excitement and cuts down on some of the cheesiness. Yeah, you just got an uber new ship, but can you afford to lose it? Nothing's invincible.
Anyhow, all these facets have potential drawbacks too. Boils down to what you like, but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand.
Anyhow, all these facets have potential drawbacks too. Boils down to what you like, but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand.