Welcome to Part Two of a series in which I will attempt to explain why everyone who enjoys gaming, should play Eve Online. And by "play" Eve Online I mean join up, log on, and have fun playing the most amazing virtual/real universe ever conceived by man. With spaceships in it!
Part One: The Common Thread
Part Two: Actual Real Humans
There are many things that make Eve Online unique. Yesterday I talked about the common history of playing with 500,000 other people on one shared server. Today I'd like to talk about those 500,000 other people.
You may or may not know that inside of Eve I run an Alliance made up of almost 400 players from around the world. I mention this only as an example of just how diverse Eve is. We have a Google Map on our forums and currently have players located in the United States, England, French Guiana, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, South Africa, Malaysia, New Zealand and many, many others. I know that in the world we live in, this fact isn't all that unique. But it is still amazing, and builds the background for what comes next.
But let's take a small step back for a moment. For decades video games were mostly an activity limited to you alone or maybe with a few friends. They still can be, but there is also an entirely different world that has opened up over the last decade. I can still remember when I realized that the ships I was playing with in Eve were being piloted, by real human beings. People much like me, on the other side of the screen, trying to accomplish something. Just like me.
This may sound relatively basic to you now. But it is revelatory. Especially when it comes to Eve Online. Let's face it, Eve is not like your typical video game. It isn't even much like... well, anything else. It can be daunting, dark, and complicated for the first time player. And I'll be touching on this in more detail in another installment, but it takes a different kind of player to truly enjoy Eve. That mentality, that mind-set, isn't born into you. It is acquired. And that can happen all at once, or slowly over time.
The thing is, the more you play with other people, the better Eve is. There is no getting around this fact. But the thing that most people ignore, is that "playing" with other players isn't simply limited to what happens in-game. Nope. In fact, you can enjoy the company, comradeship, and shared experiences with an entire community of players and never even meet inside the world of Eve Online.
This is what most of us refer to as the Eve Community. And the Eve Community is one of the most unique and vital groups of people in all of gaming. I wish I had the space to relate to you all of the amazing, talented, sincere, and wonderful experiences I've had over the past six years with other Eve players. Some of those experiences I've related over time in this blog. Some I have not. But I can assure you that it is the Eve Community that ultimately keeps me writing, drawing, and engaged in this crazy universe of ours. Both in-game and out.
The strange thing is, the community is not limited to just players. The company that makes Eve, CCP, is also full of real human beings. Even though I have never met a single CCP employee, I still consider many of them to be "friends" in the true sense. In a modern, global, connected sense perhaps. But definitions are evolving all the time, are they not? Either way, CCP employees are also involved, engaged and communicate with us players in ways that make the game even better. On Twitter, forums, in-game, on blogs, and in many other ways.
All the 3d graphics in the world don't make Eve Online a great game. It is the people that truly elevate Eve. The people that fly with you, against you, and support you both inside that virtual universe and out here in the real one.
There are many games full of people from around the world. But only Eve has the Eve Community. And we are always willing to embrace new players.
You should try Eve Online. You can for FREE.