To 'win EVE'

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #13

I have read some interesting thoughts this week. You remember the butterfly effect trailer, don't you? Well, what my thoughts were revolvign around lately are just this. The story of the trailer is that a lone capsuleer roams about 0.0, and saves a miner who in return invites him into a fleet that in the end escalates to a giant capital battle. I mean, can you really do this? It would be amazing if you could. Then again, it might not be that simple.

First off, I don't really think you could find a miner who is a member of a 0.0 alliance mining alone. It's too dangerous, and miners are the kind that likes being protected. So most likely by the time you find a lone miner, you're reported like 10 times in their intel channels, and he's the one left behind from the other warping off, a gang of combat pilots on the way to gank you.

For the sake of storytelling, let's assume you somehow do succeed in saving someone from an alliance. Maybe alt characters or something. Now you aren't just simply invited to fly into the next blobfight. You'll be milled through the careful security process they have. IF they find you adequate, then MAYBE you can participate next time there is a major battle.

And here we are done picking that trailer apart. But 'I was there'... Yeah, another masterpiece of a video. That's another sort. What that guy is talink about is the flow experience I have talked about way back. It also lays out a future(?) vision for EVE flying in space experience. Right now, it is more likely that the enemy is bridged in from a Titan, onto a cyno, with capital ships on the field, and the battleship fleet that is depicted in the trailer is more likely to be evaporated before the hero interceptor can make the legendary run. There are things to do. It was mentioned in the CSM minutes too, that large fleets provide little opportunity for individual heroism. You have a fleet commander yelling out commands, and grunts following them, while the logistics pilots, either in their advanced cruiser hulls or in their carriers are trying to keep firepower from dropping like flies.

EVE is a good game. It provides opportunity for many things. But when it comes to focusing on your goals, you may end up with the feeling that you can't 'win EVE'. You can't get the thing you are looking for. Because you were not there. You were sitting beyond your computer, trying to make out what the FC just shouted for the fifth time, while trying to get a lock on the primary, struggling with the low framerate you are getting on the screen.

So what can you do if you want to be there? You need to change role. You need to change purpose. Or, wait for the oh-so-rare moment, and get more and more disappointed by each encounter. From all the activities I tried, the best were the rookie roams. Because I was totally there. I was flying my frigate, I was unstoppable and indestructible. I didn't try anything. I did it.

For today, this is the primary lesson. To win EVE, thou shalt not try, thou shalt do. It may be sometimes hard. It may mean many different things at once. As a die-hard miner, you may strive to suck up that huge spodumain roid. As a filthy pirate, you may want to keep your status perfect -10. As a faction war participant, you may wish your supported empire to own all lowsec. As a market guru, you may want to make billions a day. As an alliance leader, you may want to lead your people to triumph, to own all of 0.0. It is possible. Sometimes, you get the impression it's not. But if you get out there, you may as well succeed. There are hundreds of others trying. But you have a plan, and you don't just try, you do.

The point of EVE, where you 'win' it, is not even when you accomplish your goal. That's too easy. The true win is when you have fun.

Sessym out.