About a week ago, I passed my ninth EVE-anniversary. Its be a long, strange trip on various Internet Spaceships. I’ve seen big events ranging from the Amarrian championships and would-be player-driven revolutions to alliance tournaments (all 8 so far that were broadcast visually) and all those crazy miner-ganking Hulkageddons.
I made a post about this sort of thing a couple of years ago. It was probably more inspiring than this one, but that’s not for me to judge.
I’ve watched corporations rise to fame and then fall to pieces leaving just an empty shell, and alliances burn brightly only to be decimated by subterfuge or be utterly ruined by years-long wars.
People I met in the early day have left and come back again. In some cases, several times. Some of the friends I’ve made in space have gone through college and university. Others got engaged, married and settled down with kids.
It’s really quite astonishing to think about playing a game for so long. The prospect of playing an MMO for more than a few months seems preposterous these days – with big development houses building massive marketing hype, fuelled by gamers’ desire for the “next big thing” – so I really do surprise myself sometimes when I think about how long I have poked around in the void.
But what’s left to do? What’s left to train? Nothing. I have (for several years now) been sitting docked, socialising with people I know and respect, and tentatively prodding promising newbies, fostering a new generation of awesome spacefriends. My skill queue consists primarily of items ‘just because’ rather than ‘wouldn’t it be nice if…’; things that I’m training to level five for the hell of it, and to stay competitive on pointless things like eveboard.
So why stick around?
That’s the big question. Everyone I know leaves. They almost always come back, but for the most part, space is a lot more empty for me than it used to be. I still enjoy the company I keep, though. I have met some truly inspirational and beautiful people in this game, and as long as it keeps delivering on that level, I’ll probably never leave.
So here’s to more Internet Spaceships and the Internet Spacefriends they bring!