Blog Banter 24: The other side of the screen

by A scientists life in Eve on Jan.13, 2011, under Eve online

Welcome to the twenty-fourth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month’s Banter topic comes to us from the ever helpful Eelis Kiy, capsuleer behind the “Where the frack is my ship” blog. She asks: How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE? Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa? Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfill in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently? Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it? Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

When I received the email with this month’s Blog Banter, I smiled a little as following from the previous edition, which focussed on expanding the in-game experience and everything that entails, including walking around Coming Soon(TM), this edition turns that around completely.

Now generally I can see this being quite an interesting blog banter, also with the potential for a number of people to either post a one line response, or decline to take part entirely. Eve, as we all know, has a huge variety of options (sand box ofc) and paths to choose. You could be an industrialist, a market trader, a pirate (yarr!), a ninja salvager, a scammer, a faction warfare specialist, a mission runner, an explorer, a merc etc. So many options.

So, the guys who ninja salvage and want me to agress them so their neutral alt can bring in an Orca with a nasty gank ship to blow up my expensive PvE fit faction battleship – if I met them in the street would they keep almost bumping into me hoping I’d hit them so they can call some friends in and “gank” me. I seriously doubt it.

The market scammers, do they spend all their non-Eve time sending spam hoping I’ll buy some “attribute enhancing” pills from them? Pretty unlikely.

Is the market trader somebody on a “career break” from the London Stock Exchange – probably not.

And so on.

I’m sure there are a number of people who’s real life activities mirror their in game experience, and I’d be interested to know the percentages, but on the whole I think the majority of players tend to play a style that they enjoy, which may not reflect their actual real life occupation.

For me, I’ve been an owner manager of a business for about 10 years, and more recently I’ve been working in the Human Resources department of a large regional law firm.

Does this influence my in game activities. Well I think it probably does to a greater or lesser degree. I’ve been fortunate enough to be made a Director in both player run Corporations I’ve been involved in – something I count as a privilege and am constantly amazed that they don’t work it out and fire me!

I also know from previous experience that I tend to be not very good at the PvP type of gameplay. I was pretty good but a long way from great when playing QuakeLive. I’m fine at PvE, although clearly my skills are still holding me back.

So, how does my gameplay respond? I undertake things I’m good at and enjoy, including PI, moon mining, invention, manufacturing and some PvE. I also understand how important and essential PvP is, especially in 0.0, and so I’ve adapted my game play by having my Logistics Alt.

As to whether Eve has influenced my behaviour out of the game – I’m not sure it has. At this stage the game is getting more of me that I’m getting from it if you follow me. I’m wondering if, over time, this might level out though.

The main thing is that this is a game, and that I’m enjoying myself and am not obsessive about it. There’s still lots of things I haven’t even tried (wormholes are definitely at the top of my to-do list), but for now I’m enjoying what I’m doing, and the Corp (and Alliance too I think) is at a critical stage where things need to work or there could be the potential for a fail cascade.

So, hard work ahead, but lots of fun too!

List of participants: