BB31: The Difference is . . .

Welcome to the thirty-first EVE Blog Banter, a community conversation between anyone and everyone with an interest in discussing EVE Online. For more information on how this works, check out this link or for details of this edition’s topic, read on.

As any games journalist would probably tell you, a true and complete review of a Massively Multiplayer Online game is impossible. MMOs are vast, forever evolving entities with too much content for a single reviewer to produce a fair and accurate review. However, a collection of dedicated bloggers and EVE players (past and present) with a wide range of experience in various aspects of the game might be able to pull it off.

This special ‘End of Year’ Blog Banter edition aims to be a crowd-sourced game review. Using your gaming knowledge and experience, join the community in writing a fair and qualified review of EVE Online: Crucible. This can be presented in any manner of your choosing, but will ideally include some kind of scoring system. 

With each Blog Banter participant reviewing the areas of EVE Online in which they specialise, the result should be a Metacritic-esque and accurate review by the people who know best. 

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“The thing is,” Mike explained.  “Most of us could retire right now.  We are rich enough to do so.  Nobody is forcing us to ‘play the game’ amonst the stars.”

“Then why do you?” One of the the people sitting in the mess asked.  “If I were rich I’d buy myself the best of everything on some pleasure planet and die happy.”

Rubbing his jaw Mike answered slowly.  “Making a difference is part of it but I think a lot of capsuleers like the competition.  When you play in the big leagues you know who and what you are.  Instead of being a big frog in a small pond we opt to jump into the oceans of space.  We pit our minds, our skills, hell some even say our souls against others of our own kind.  Whether it is being the best at exploring, killing, leading, trading, following . . . we all strive to be better.  Take some planet bound adventurer.  He climbs the highest mountain on his planet only to find five other guys have done the same on their planets before him.  He is proud of his accomplishment until he finds it is only special in his small corner of a much bigger picture.”

“But he still climbed the mountain.”

“Ayup.  But you know, once you hit space, the focus changes.  What you do here is written large across the stars.  Or you can fail quietly in some distant corner of nullsec.  Thing is we are all in the same ocean.  We all have the potential to do great things.  Better, bigger.  Wars in space span huge sectors and all know of them.  A single man can bring down an alliance that rivals the four great domains.”  Mike raised a hand up to the sky then slowly closed his fingers to make a fist.  “Another can try to stop him.”

“That why you became a podder?”

Mike lowered his hand “I heard this was a place where everybody started even and had the same chances to better themselves.  Oh I know that some think that the bitter old vets have an advantage and that may be so but some of them lose the fire . . . lose the spark that drives us to greatness.  They may still play the great game but they don’t really care and they are not as hot-headed, as driven as the young bucks coming up from the ranks.  The pantheon of the stars always seems to make room for the new godlings and heroes and the old ones slowly fade into history.  But, for all that, it is a history we all share.  We all face the same mountain and make our own choices to mine it, climb it . . . ” Mike chuckled, “claim as your own for as long as you can hold it.  What we do this day, yesterday, tomorrow . . . is our choice and our history but if you make an effort it is a history we all share.”

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Lessons

That is the difference.  This common server we have makes accomplishments mean more.  If you are the biggest, the baddest, the best it is in the GAME not just in the local shard.  If you can amass a fleet that darkens the stars then this is GAME history, not just what happened on this one server.

Do a search of game events . . . think about it.  What other games have player driven events that actually make the news?  World of Warcraft? Only one I can think of was the raid against a player funeral.  City of Heroes?  A wedding proposal that got the Devs involved.  Eve?  Guiding Hands big kill back in 2007 briought me into the game.  Bad Bobby and other Pozi schemes, Wars and riots within the game.  The METAGAME itself is at a level I have not seen in other games and I have plyed more than a few.

Look, if you want to play a game where you shoot targets or ‘level up’ this is not the game for you.  If you want quests and a great story told to you, look someplace else.  This is a game where you make your own story and are the hero, antihero, or even villain.  We don’t tell you a story . . . you become part of it.  If you get into the pvp then the changes you make affect other people . . .real people.

That is the difference.  Making a difference.

fly it like you won it

m