This also isn't the first time EVE Online has landed in hot water with its players, and it won't be the last. Since its release, EVE Online has struggled to invent systems that both enable its cataclysmically large battles while keeping a level playing field for both sides. Steven: EVE Online has slipped down from last year's position largely because of a series of controversies involving microtransactions and economic rebalancing that players are not happy about.