Like most have said, EVE is such a comlex game that most find it a putoff. I for one enjoy games that I can't just hop on and master in no time flat. GAmes taht take me a long time to really figure them out. EVE is that kind of game, it has the complexity to boggle your mind at nearly every corner; but at the same time it is so open and free that you can do whatever the hell you want.
I think because EVE is so different in the grind, questing, pretty much everything in EVE is different than 90% of other MMOs. Everything is player driven from politics to the economy, and the grind is real time. Players will look at this and say man, I have to wait 2 days to get this skill up? When in another MMO they will have dedicated nearly 2 full days to grinding a couple of levels out to gain just as much from one skill leveling in EVE. The real time grind seems so long at first, even when it is a measly 6 hour train. After you play for a few weeks, you stop noticing the hours and only the days. You stop feeling like you aren't progressing because your characters skills are only going to take you so far.
When I first started I honestly felt the real time grind was horrid. It was a good idea but in practice was terrible. I would think how this game has been around for 10 years and is still P2P. I then got into PvP and learned that skills don't really matter THAT much other than if you can equip T2 mods or if oyu have to run an unstable fit. Both of which are not huge problems, and if you are playing to learn you have to expect to be shelling out tons of money.
EVE is not for the casual gamer, and if they can't see that the game has huge payouts after you put your time in then I don't think they can be convinced. Some people just prefer to have that feeling of no matter what level they are they feel like a boss. EVE isn't that way, you feel like a scrub for at least two weeks before you realise that the grind will be fine and it is that way for a reason. If new players could just fit up into T2 and really expensive shit, they would quit faster. Imagine spending days farming for that one fit you want to run, then get popped and you now have nothing. The smart players would know before hand that EVE is a dangerous place, but there are always the numbskulls who don't care and just want to fly the biggest and baddest ships on day one. I see it on the forums all the time there, players saying it is impossible for new players to catch vets. Well, they don't have to catch them in every category, and often times a new player can have a set of skills some vets don't as it didn't interest them.
EVE just doesn't seem like the game for your friends, no offense. I usually try not to say that kind of thing as its usually pretty impossible to say that. But EVE is unique, and it really only appeals to a pretty small portion of the MMO audience.