Almost all MMOs gate content in the form of linear "levels" which essentially function like a several-dozen hour tutorial until the player grinds to the point of "max level" so that they can then begin to participate in "end game" content. In EVE, player progress isn't so narrowly constrained or defined in terms of an aggregate statistic, rather, player skills can be trained automatically over time without grinding and, similar to the golden era of UO, player skills function in the game with respect to their individual utility rather than as a function of player level. This means new players can target specific skills based on how they want to play the game rather than picking the skills that facilitate the most efficient grind to max level, after which they reset all their skills and reallocate them with respect to the "real" game. Thus new players begin to experience the "real game" early on without having to grind through 30 hours of cookie-cutter content before the "real game" begins.