The Engine of Interesting Experiences

In 2007 when my first EVE character was a two-day old newbie mining her little Gallente heart out in the rookie system Bourynes, a friendly 2003 pilot named Edohatrem Inur struck up a conversation. He convinced me to join his corp along with a bunch of other newbies he'd recruited. The opportunity to harvest knowledge directly from a veteran player fast-tracked my EVE experience in many valuable ways. 

What goes around, comes around...in more ways than one. Not only do I now find myself leading a corp doing the very same thing for exploration-minded newbies, but in full-circle fashion, Edo recently joined Signal Cartel. A self-styled glittervet (kind of like a bittervet but with more optimism and an interest in helping new players), he is still up to his old tricks in Bourynes and elsewhere engaging "adorable newbies" (as he calls them) with his special brand of tough love and carrot-on-stick recruiting tactics.

Edo is fond of pointing out contradictions and questioning assertions. I learned long ago to be amused rather than annoyed by this, since it can lead to interesting discussions and reflections on how we change and grow as players. Case in point: I grumbled recently about the time demands that leading Signal Cartel imposes on me. He immediately pointed out the contradiction of the situation with assertions I posted just over a year ago upon my return to New Eden regarding what I wasn't interested in, to wit:

• Leadership responsibility
• Restrictive corp rules
• Non-PvP, non-low-sec corps
• Newbie corpmates

HA! Guess I'm eating those words now, as my peaceful, credo-bound corp is at 275 members not quite 3 months after public launch...

The contrast between a year ago and now is amusing. But I can roll with it because I've been around EVE long enough to know that nothing stays the same. Anything can happen. Being open to new things--like EvE-Scout founders G8keeper and Johnny Splunk approaching me to lead a peaceful exploration corp--leads to new friends and new experiences. As I've said before, the Signal Cartel experience has given me a fresh perspective on the game, a sense of purpose, and interesting new challenges. All of that is made even better when old friends like Edo decide to come along for the ride...and he is by far not the only one who has done so. Quite a few friends and acquaintances--many who were or are pirates, amusingly--have joined Signal Cartel and contribute significantly to the camaraderie and success of the corp.

Relationships are clearly the engine of interesting experiences in New Eden. Whether those experiences are dramatic and sweeping (e.g, BRAVE's recent troubles) or result from taking a path less traveled (as in Signal Cartel), they all create ripples--sometimes with far-reaching and unanticipated outcomes. The unpredictable way that those ripples, even the tiny ones, intersect with others and evolve will trump assertions every time!

IC: A Distant Voice Goes Quiet

Transcript: Even wandering in w-space, the big events filter through. It seems my old friend Ripard Teg is stepping out of the public eye. The most noticeable effect of this is that he is discontinuing his prolific journaling on matters in New Eden. A great loss of shared info, wisdom, and discussion in the capsuleer community. I do hope all is well and perhaps we will catch up in another venue when I return to k-space.

Capsuleers Have an Evil Streak...

...I mean, just LOOK at this photo published on Twitter by Alice Vorpalis at lunch time today right when I was starving. And not a drop of Nutella to be found in-station. Dammit! Time for a quick trip to Jita...

Impact

While there were always a few Eve players who felt compelled to assert their negative opinions and even outright hate of me, Hellcats, the philosophy behind a women-only corp, my community activities, who I was flying with, and my work in CSM5, the majority of interactions with other players back in the day was positive. As I have discovered upon reconnecting with folks since my return, much of what I did and said as leader of the Hellcats had a strong impact on how others played. Quite a few women have told me that Hellcats inspired them or gave them the courage to take up pvp.

I couldn't ask for a better legacy than that. To be honest, the good press and fans that Hellcats enjoyed always kind of surprised me. We were, after all, a very small corp (I don't think we ever had more than 35 members) that didn't do much but cruise low sec and look for trouble. Yet even after years of being inactive, the corp still inspires wistful nostalgia and positive memories among fans. Something resonated with people, I guess. Which I suppose is why I am now getting earnest requests that Hellcats be rebooted and hearing good ideas for how that could be done.

That would be an interesting effort, but it won't be my effort. I wouldn't mind seeing it happen (especially if done in the same spirit as the original corp) and might even "advise" if asked. But the time and work required to spearhead such a project is for others to invest in who have more energy, time, and interest than I can muster. Yet, I admit that the idea of Hellcats coming back to life makes me smile. It's a good feeling to know that content I helped bring to the sandbox during the Hellcats heyday has had an impact--however small--that persists to this day.

Although I log in these days with a certain sense of remove and casual nonchalance compared to before, the stories created by players continue to fascinate me. If it so happens that the legacy of Hellcats inspires something new and evolved, more power to whomever takes the idea and runs with it. Therein lies the eternal allure of Eve Online...the ability to create an impact at some level of the game and have it endure for years in the memories of players. Such impacts been happening for 10 years across the width and breadth of New Eden and its community. When you think about that compared to any other game, it is quite remarkable*.







* Regardless of mis-steps by CCP along the way and the long list of things in game which still need improvement.