Right off the top, this commercial which Coca-Cola ran during Sunday's Super Bowl is ludicrous. I spilled Coke on a keyboard once and it freaking ruined it! Nothing magical happened, other than everything becoming extremely sticky and useless.
On the other hand, despite the lame commercialization aspect, this commercial is brilliant. It perfectly nails the two paradigms of polar opposite brain-thinks that exist within Eve Online. And I'd like to have a moment to explain what I mean by this. Because I believe it is rather illuminating.
No matter where you look within the Eve Community you will trip, fall, bump into or otherwise be smacked hard about the face and neck with a culture of anger, hatred, negativity and nastiness. It's there in-game, on forums, and in lots of other places. Every week someone else announces somewhere that they've had enough of it. Last week on Twitter, this weekend on Funky Bacon's blog, tomorrow somewhere else and almost every day on Reddit. Fed up. Can't take it no more. Had enough.
I've never lived on that side of the tracks. My Eve is not like that at all. Yesterday in Eve I had someone tell me in local that they went an extra five jumps just to find me and tell me how much they love this blog. Another person saw a tweet of mine and sent me a Golden Pod of my own, just because I've never had one. I've talked about this before, but I find Eve to be chock full of truly great, awesome, and inspiring people. The case studies for this go way beyond my own personal experience - to the crowd sourced fundraisers in the Goons, or on GoFundMe, or hundreds of other examples.
So what is your chosen Eve Paradigm?
Personally I am in the midst of a significant personal reformation when it comes to this issue. I am increasingly of the opinion that it is time to stand up and change the underlying culture that exists within Eve. That it is us - the players themselves - that are to blame for the failure of Eve to "catch on" in a larger context. That we are, in the larger sense, solely responsible for choosing poorly when it comes to managing our sandbox.
When I think back over my years in Eve and ponder the moments when I considered quitting (and I've had more than a few) they all share one common aspect - those moments are when the negative overwhelmed and pushed me down. When someone or something within Eve, or the community, exerted such negative force that it sucked the life out of the experience.
Those are hard moments to overcome. And while I am incredibly powerful and awesome, I worry that so many other players are not like me. That they simply walk away when this happens. Walk away to another experience that is far more positive. Far more empowering. Far more enjoyable. And there are thousands and thousands of options that don't involve Eve.
So yeah, that Coke commercial is stupid. We all know that. But, on the other hand, it does make a good point.
And look, I'm no Saint. I play a Pirate. I ruin a lot of people's day sometimes. But I try, even within that context, to extend a helping hand. To offer advice. To even pay for losses sometimes. And to create an environment, within Stay Frosty and ABA, that is empowering and positive.
Sometimes I wonder if we aren't seeing a paradigm shift within Eve already. One has to consider the efforts of people like myself, Brave, and others that have reached out to new players in the last year. A whole new crop of players have entered our game that seem much more open and positive, and less beholden to past aggressions, than the older veterans. Maybe, just maybe, that shift in thinking can take root and expand, grow, and change Eve from the inside out.
And maybe someday soon, despite its dark complexity, despite the various play-styles, PvP, Piracy, ganks, and whatnots - despite it all - Eve will be a vastly more positive place. Both inside and outside the virtual universe in which we all live and play.
What is your paradigm? What do you bring to the table?
Comments
Side note: tell Prda Prda my guys love when he shows up. They miss him. :-P
Several folks, including me, called out to this guy to give his head a shake and worry about scamming bitter vets and leave the newbies alone.
However, the local numbers were against us, as the vicious underbelly that delight in petty acts like this reveled in the afterglow and proceeded to celebrate, mock, and taunt.
Not all folks attracted to EvE have a wonderful community experience, and some new folks turn to the darkest side, as well.
Comparatively, EVE isn't nearly as harsh. Sure, there's a lot of hate and cynicism but it's almost of the 'teenager' variety. I get the impression of people who are just learning to flex their minds and practicing at expressing opinions. A lot of the time these type of people get a reaction that seems to reinforce their behavior. I mean, getting a rise out of someone can be empowering. Eventually, though, they realize it's a pretty barren plateau to inhabit after a long enough spell. Far better to get real and act more like your day-to-day self rather than role-playing rage/hate online all the time. In any case, it doesn't really affect me, aside from the annoyance. I mean, I have a teenage son(a wonderful teenage son, but yeah, teenager) so I don't need to read it on local or the forums as well.
All that aside, EVE is a visually beautiful game. How can players not step back every once in a while and just admire the virtual environment they have? On top of that, there are some amazingly nice people here. I've made many friends on EVE and feel this game has more 'soul' than quite a few other less 'harsh' MMOs.
So, I choose to enjoy, smile and laugh my way through the EVE experience. It's not that hard to either.
What I wish, and what will never happen, is for those of us who believe in decent gameplay to respond as vociferously and as loudly as the assholes... Cause I can assure you the numbers were not against you, just the numbers of those who actually spoke up were. So many of us turn our backs on the assholes because we know we are not going to change them or stop them... and because we are not assholes we don't yell and mock and taunt...
It's the price we pay... I so so wish CCP could some up with a mechanic that would allow players to effectively fight back but I'll be damned if I can think of how.
As for us... our little Anoikis corp has grown quite significantly in he last few months... we have taken on a bunch of newbies and are bringing them up to see the game is a positive light, to offer ransoms for pods when worth doing and then to always honor those ransoms. To take a hard look at what we do and if it impacts a real newbro (not some '03 players newly minted alt) to lend a hand up and pay it forward...
Plus, and this is just a sweetner for the new guys... the potential ISK in Anoikis, sites, gas and PI, is such that even our newest new bros all have at least 1 bil ISK each in their walleta... this mitigates rather significantly the old standard, 'don't fly what you can't afford to lose' thing... now doesn't it? =]
Knowing that CCP embraced this "darkness" made me think that most Eve players were like that. I therefore opted to play alone and not join a corp. It wasn't until I read the ABA core principles that I realized that there were actually good people to fly with.
BTT:
I agree in most parts, but I don't think there is a paradigm change happening. The bitters are still there, and (imho) the helpers have always been. I just think the visibility of the latter ones is increasing.
Helpers normally weren't the ones beating their chests, doing their things in their local ecosystem in a corp or alliance. The haters instead celebrate every single bash loudly, I think it's part of their personality. But with the years passing by, with (among others) growing success of HERO, angel project and EUNI, many of the good guys feel motivated to stand up and talk about their own efforts for a better Eve. Especially since last autumn I see a radical change in perception of EVE players, starting with the 'This is Eve' newbro wave. And I like it. ;)
And I can just emphasize your 'pirate' chapter - often try to move the discussion about their bitterness into a discussion about mechanics and playstyle, pushing helpers into a carebear-position they don't belong to. Instead pirating, scams, ganks can be done without being rude to other capsuleers and force them out of the game. Some just don't see the bigger picture: every newbro who leaves the game due to haters, is one less to shoot / scam / gank (and vice versa).
Evoganda is one of the positives that has so far kept me from pulling the plug, especially this post and eve-rule-42.
I realise that half of the problem is attitude and the other half is making the effort.
<3 Evoganda
As you walk, step into the bakery that you're passing by. Inside, you'll find very nice, helpful people. Now try the hardware store, then the cafe. You'll find the most amazing people, willing to go well out of their way to help a stranger. Is this a different city? No it's the same city, just a different set of citizens.
Eve is no different. Just like any metropolitan area, it's mainly comprised of wonderful human beings that will offer the shirt off their backs to help. There are however, the dark humans as well and these are the ones that make the evening news.
You will find what you seek. Be sure to know what you're looking for. EVE is real.
As you walk, step into the bakery that you're passing by. Inside, you'll find very nice, helpful people. Now try the hardware store, then the cafe. You'll find the most amazing people, willing to go well out of their way to help a stranger. Is this a different city? No it's the same city, just a different set of citizens.
Eve is no different. Just like any metropolitan area, it's mainly comprised of wonderful human beings that will offer the shirt off their backs to help. There are however, the dark humans as well and these are the ones that make the evening news.
You will find what you seek. Be sure to know what you're looking for. EVE is real.