Why I play

Yesterday and today on Twitter, the hashtag #MyEveOnline became a bit of a thing after Proto shared his main reason for playing Eve. The reasons people have for playing this game always fascinate me, mainly because in the world of MMO's Eve is comparatively small in terms of player base. Which makes it stand to reason that the people who play it very likely have some passionate reasonings for continuing to log into New Eden.

Fun fact: I used to be strictly against the idea of massive multiplayer games. Way back when, I used to stubbornly insist on games as a story telling medium and felt that having huge numbers of people playing the same instance of the game as you cheapened that aspect. Eve always stood out to me though. The first vivid memory I have of reading about the game was the antics of The Guiding Hand Social Club. I followed news of the game avidly ever since then, though my prejudice against the MMO genre hadn't broken yet. I watched from afar as B.O.B. was destroyed, wormholes were opened, the monument was shot, and B-R destroyed the GDP of several third world countries worth of internet space pixels. And I slowly got more and more into the idea of playing online multiplayer games, specifically Starcraft. As the online realm took over console gaming as well, my prejudice broke and I embraced the world of massive multiplayer games with open arms. But I still stuck to my single player games for a while.

Then, I made a friend in real life who played Eve, and I mentioned to them that I had always been intrigued by the game and was thinking of starting up an account. They told me, in no uncertain terms, that new players couldn't handle the game at this point and that I should just save my money. Everyone who had been playing for 10 years was too good, they all had too much money, the place is full of sociopaths, and I'd never be able to figure out half the game mechanics that they had all already memorized. I was doomed from the start.

I started my trial account that night.

2 years later, and I've fallen in love with the game. I've found a group of folks to play with that not only fit me both in terms of personality and play style, but also in general attitude and outlook. I've discovered the magic of the Eve community. And I've learned that every time I log off having accomplished the goals I set for myself (namely, sightseeing, hacking sites, and not dying), I legitimately feel better about myself. I set those goals, and I accomplished them, and I'll get to try it again next time. And as I look back over my 2 years, I realize that there really wasn't a reason to believe that anyone can start this game and succeed. The vets are more powerful than you, both in terms of skill points and game skill. Making isk is hard and prices only go up as more isk is made. And more game mechanics to learn pop up all the time to add to the ones that need learning in the first place (i.e. entosis, hyperdunking, skill trading). But that makes the 2 year mark seem even better, because I got past all that, and am still finding ways to play MY game today. I've set my own long term goals and I've achieved them, both SP wise and just knowledge wise.

I play Eve because someone told me I couldn't and because the people I play with are amazing. And I plan on playing until the day I naturally biomass or the day CCP closes up shop.