And before you get your panties in a bunch, I know perfectly well that number isn't the most kills in the universe. I know that number means very little in the grand scheme of things. I know there are many pilots who passed 3,500 kills a long time ago. But I also know there are even more pilots who haven't gotten there, or may never get there, themselves. This is all about personal accomplishment.
And since this magazine is about me, let me take a moment to recognize yet another milestone along the path of my own Eve career. What harm does it do?
There are those readers who may not fully appreciate what it means to be me in New Eden. So let me take a few moments to give you some examples of what it means to be Rixx Javix in space. Yesterday when I entered a system, "Everyone hide! Rixx is in local!" This happens all the time. There are times when I can enter a system with 12 or 15 people in it, and they all vanish in moments. Docked up, gone to a safe spot, or moved on to another system. This happens on a very regular basis.
A lot of people read this blog. And some of them even pay attention. Yesterday I took a trial fit cloaking ship out for a test run, to try and grab some plexers. The person inside the plex was a reader. He knew what I was up to.
And then, the other side of the coin. My presence often has the opposite effect on people. While local will often empty, it is just as likely to form-up to kill me. I get camped a lot. I get followed a lot. I get combat probed a lot. I get taunted in local. I get challenged. I get ganked, blobbed, and pretty much everything else you can think of. There are entire corporations (cough) dedicated to killing me. In fact, based on their actions, I sometimes think I'm the only reason they log on.
I don't mention these things in any way to engender pity from anyone. I only mention them because this is my Eve experience. An Eve experience that I am personally proud of and that I take great pride in. One that I created. That I asked for. And one that I wouldn't have any other way!
Not all of those 3,500 kills have been hard-fought, but the majority of them have been. I don't fly with links. I don't multi-box a scout or an alt or a T3 booster. I am a hunter. My kills typically come because I found someone and exploded their ship the old-fashioned way. Not by camping, unless called for. Not by trickery, unless needed. But by simply finding them and removing them from their ship.
So yes, I do take some measure of pride in it. It may be hard for some people to understand how that is possible and yet I can also say that I don't care about my killboard, or the numbers represented on it. But both those statements are true. I honestly couldn't care less about rankings, efficiencies, ratios, or any of the other nonsense represented by them. I didn't create killboards. Someone else did.
I play for personal enjoyment. I play to fly with my mates in Stay Frosty. I play to have fun. Those are the only reasons I play Eve.
Next milestone? Maybe 5,000 kills. Or maybe, something else?