State Of The EVE Forums

State Of The EVE Forums

Awash In A Sea Of Gibberish

What is it about the EVE Online forums these days that makes my skin crawl and the milk in my glass curdle?  I guess if I had only played the game for a year or two I would not know the difference, and maybe I would remember my own time when things seemed better, even though they were not.

However, I firmly believe that the height of EVE Online was in the spring of '08, shortly after Trinity was released, when all the old timers from the beginning were still the dominant force in the game and on the forums.

I remember thread after thread, detailing life in EVE, how to make it, where to go, what to do, encouragement, positive criticism, fan created content as far as the eye could see.

Things were good, you could pop the C&P section open and see countless threads by both pirate and victim alike, detailing their success and failure on a day to day basis.  Pirates actually existed, insofar as, they were a legitimate, professional, and well renowned force in the game at almost every level.

In fact, I adored, admired, and respected piracy in the way you respect Robin Hood, except that he were stealing for himself, and not others.  

Then low sec died, then CCP got caught red-handed a number of times, then null was crippled politically and mechanically, then BOTs became the norm, not the exception... and then?

Well, I have spent a long enough time away from the game, eight of the past twelve months, that I am not as particularly invested in the grand scheme of things as I might have been before, but I can tell you that to be honest, I am kind of tired of all the bitching and moaning from the newest crop of players.

Most of the old timers that I grew up around are long gone now, and I find myself surrounded by a sea of my peers who have a grand sense of entitlement and huge ego to match.  Who are these people?  Are they playing the same game as me?  CCP never had enough resources to go the distance and never will, and for the better part of five years a lot of people were nearly perfectly content with that because the people they found themselves flying next to or against at night were the cream of the crop; wonderful, interesting, and dynamic individuals from all walks of life, all viewpoints, all creeds, you name it, fighting the good fight, and going home proud to be a part of the best MMO community in the world.

Well, that has come and gone, and I think part of it may be that somewhat older players like myself, have succumbed to a real bitter veteran syndrome, not the meme kind that gets tossed around on the forums all the time, but a real fondness and nostalgia for the wonderful community we all found when we started here.

To all the whiners, naysayers, endless flames and complaints, and myriad tapestry of completely mundane and negative posters out there, please, please do not turn this into Warcraft.

CCP never had the resources to make this game flawless, and they never will.  So make the best of it, and hope they do not repeat their mistakes like they did with Dominion, because at the very least, I can guarantee you that unless a couple million people subscribe to this game overnight, CCP will not be devoting more time to it than they have already, so you can either live with it, or gtfo.

Absence, Hearts, And All That

Absence, Hearts, And All That
Turns Out I Am Back

Well, my stint away from the game was entertaining, but it ended in fiasco so here I am.

In all honesty, I needed time away from EVE to clean up my personal life, and being neck deep in game with political doodoo like I was last summer and early fall, EVE was on the short list of burdens I had no choice but to lift for a time.  What was supposed to be six months away before taking another look at the state of the game ended up being eight.  And although I had quite the entertaining time visiting with, raiding with, and helping out old friends in World Of Warcraft (Yes, that's right!) I am glad to be back.

While the game may be trudging along as expected, good things are being squeezed out now and then by CCP to the degree that I at least feel they are giving it their best shot with whatever resources they have.  In retrospect, I feel a bit nostalgic for the days when the general forums on the EVE website were not rife with constant belittling of CCP, any of its affiliates, and their attempts to develop or do... well, just about anything.

I think it has gotten a little out of hand, and although implausibly naive of me, I feel a little guilty as if I had a hand in stirring up this wild rumpus on the forums as a vocal antagonist for months after Dominion came out.  Then again, Dominion and the foibles that followed it for nearly two years now are not really at all things I could have reasonably assuaged or prevented so... that's just the way it is.

Anyways, I would like to start blogging again sans the rambling, so here goes.

I am back, Aurelius Federation is back, and while it has now basically boiled down to no more than myself and my close friend Jacob, we are still at the core, ourselves.  After all, he and I started this corporation, and he and I will finish it.

What do I want out of the game this time around?  That's easy.  I want to kill stuff... and lead fleets of all shapes and sizes in doing so.  Contrary to what may be popular belief among my friends and associates in game, and also due to my longstanding career as a combat scout a vast majority of the time, I am quite bloodthirsty and violent by nature, but I generally like to hunt solo if I am going to be firing my weapons, i.e. I like the hunt more than the kill and we all know how thirsty most players are for killmails themselves.

When do I start?  This week!  Given the very limited amount of standings our alliance has set, and that we run NBSI in all space, it should be pretty interesting!