I'm just going to come right out and say that wormholes are the best addition to EVE Online - they're what nullsec can't be and what Factional Warfare isn't; wormholes have brought the essence that EVE was founded on back to the galaxy. There's been much hullabaloo over wormholes, but it's all about the superficial cool-factor. Since wormholes are shifty critters, they pose only temporary, small scale threats to the security of nullsec alliances and thus don't radically change the fabric of nullsec politics - besides being such a profitable ISK pot that alliances are encouraged to institute wormhole policies that allow the shooting of fellow alliance members.
But allow me to briefly enthuse over the superficialities of wormholes. First, the best kind of beauty - skin deep. Wormholes are gorgeous, mind-blowing, light-distorting cosmic baubles that could use a few more trips to the thesaurus to expound upon the full synonymic range of "wow" that they inspire. And now that the Premium Lite engine has been enforced as the bare minimum by CCP's Graphics Gestapo, it's mandatory for everyone to enjoy them.
The unfiltered tension and excitement that comes with getting genuinely lost for the first time in EVE is unmatched by anything I've done in known space for some time. I've been trapped - first on the wrong side of the galaxy, then from the frying pan to the fire of unknown space - after a bit of back-and-forth with some Aridian pirates went awry. Striving to get my Raven and implants back home, I've been probing in a huge unknown system with plenty of gravimetric sites to confound my probes. I haven't a clue when I'll reach home, but it will be in true ghost ship fashion - abruptly spat back into a friendly system, laden with unimaginably valuable loot from unheard-of places. I had said I'd prefer a Typhoon, because Caldari ships have so many hifalutin' electronics it's hard to let them go if something goes wrong - but alas. It will be an adventure for the ages, though I haven't determined whether it's masochistic to be enjoying this minigame of point-and-click Space Myst.
But stories of abandoned battleships and self destructing marauders are already turning old hat. Yet, few are talking about why wormholes are revitalizing EVE as they reach their insidious tendrils across the galaxy. It is because along with the Sleepers, unknown space has brought back the old EVE that made the game respectable.
The mass limit of wormholes means smaller ships in smaller gangs. Mass limits encourage people to bring through Tech Two ships to get more bang for their mass, while battleships have regained their former glory and capital ships are rare. Information, coordination, and tactics are key for surviving wormhole collapses (probers - first in, last out), Sleepers (spider tank for the win), and the scrambled local channel means awareness of other players is based on situational awareness beyond glancing at the local channel.
