I created this Eveoganda film back in the Summer of 2014. For some reason it was up and running on a defunct YouTube channel I originally created for my real life work and which has since been abandoned in favor of my main YouTube channel, which is just everything I do in one place. So much easier to manage. So yesterday I finally re-uploaded it and made it available along with everything else. So it wasn't technically missing, it just wasn't up and running along with everything else.
It is difficult to imagine today, almost a decade later, but back in 2013-2014 I was truly hated among a certain group of people inside and outside of the Eve community. This was a minority opinion, but a rather angry, vocal, and passionate minority. Hard to believe right? Back then people primarily knew me based solely on the words I wrote here in these pages and my actions in-game, which to be fair were sporadic and often not that important to me in the larger scheme of things. My life back then was insanely complicated and under-going a huge transformation. I had closed my business in 2012 and was dealing with the financial and professional repercussions of that decision on top of an epic, world-class divorce. Eve was not a top priority back then to say the least. Mostly, in those early days, I played Eve with my Son. Once things finally started to settle down was when my Son and I decided to start Stay Frosty. And despite our best intentions, that process did not always execute in the best possible way. There are parts of what happened back then that I am not proud of, but I have made amends in the years since. I freely admit that I wasn't always at my best around that time.
Context is important. At that time I still had never met another Eve player in person. My first Fanfest was still a year away. The outpouring of creative energy that would result in working with CCP was still a year away. I was, in so many ways, still trying to find my way in the universe. (A process which is never-ending) And into that cauldron - stepped a very unique individual who would push me to the limit. They say that at the worst moments of your life, when you are at the very bottom, you will be tested. If so, then this person (who will remain un-named in this story) was my test.
I won't bore you with the sordid details. Suffice to say it got so bad we thought this person might show up in Iceland during our first Fanfest and contacted Icelandic Police and CCP about it. Crazy levels of hate is what I'm getting at here. Local rants like you wouldn't believe. Threats. To this day I'm not sure where any of it came from, the reaction was so epic and so bat-shit insane that it made no sense. And so it was into this environment that I made the above short.
As usual I approach situations with good humor and self-deprecation. I find it often helps. If not to alleviate the situation, then at least to make me feel better about it.
I tell you, it wasn't easy writing about this. My pre-2015 Eve years were weird and I certainly ran into a lot of strange players back then. I much prefer the post-2015 years, although those have had their fair share of weirdness to be honest. But all of that seems to be in the past now. I think meeting more people in real life, being more open, involved, and persistent has helped. But primarily I think just being the same guy for 14+ years is the real key here. While perceptions about me have evolved and changed over the years, I've been pretty much the same consistent dude all along. Despite some pretty horrific real life challenges, all of which I have overcome. Much to the chagrin of my haters I suspect. Which is probably why they are so silent these days. It's easy to kick someone when they are down and much harder to do so when they are back on their feet.
So this video. Tongue firmly in cheek. Enjoy!