When I was new to Eve Online everything seemed so important. Every change, every new ship, every single word in the upcoming Patch Notes. So important. In those early days I wrote a lot of words about changes. I got upset, pounded the drums, and generally used these pages as a soapbox. I fought Incarna. I fought for the Frills to be returned to the Vagabond. I fought a lot of battles, in words, in memes, and in protest. Often in-game. Out-of-game. And in the social media channels.
I don't want you to get the wrong idea here. I still care a great deal about Eve Online. I'd like it to last forever. But after twelves years you start to gain some perspective on things. The first thing you learn as time goes along is that we tend to always survive. The game goes on. Every single day. People come, people go, but the game chugs along with or without you. That understanding fundamentally changes the way you look at things. Turns out adding Wormholes didn't kill Eve. Neither did T3 Cruisers. Or Citadels. Or Incarna. Or Casinos. Or Watch Scorpions. Or any of a hundred other conflicts that, at the time, were harbingers of Eve's demise.
Keeping Eve running is in the best interests of everyone involved. CCP. The players. Everyone. In order to do that however, the game must continue to change. And evolve. And grow. We can't expect it to stay the same forever. Because it never has. Eve has consistently been changing. And I suspect, I hope, it will continue to do so. It has to do so. And we have to change with it. Or jump off. Having a long view about those changes helps. It is, in my humble opinion, necessary for long-term survival.
This is about becoming a bitter veteran. This is simply about becoming a veteran. Being around long enough to have seen this before. The panic. The fear. The threats of quitting. I've seen it all before. And I understand it. A lot of apple carts get turned over from time to time around here. And if it happens to be your apple cart, then it can feel personal. Like CCP is picking on you. They aren't, but it can sometimes feel like it.
In Stay Frosty we have a program which I like to call Content Creator Donations. I'll typically get about 2 of these a month on average. If you truly are leaving Eve then consider using this program to ensure your assets get used to help us struggling Pirates. We'll fly the ships. We'll use the mods. We'll make sure they go to a good home and don't sit in a dark hangar going to waste. We have a lot of events that generate content and we need all the help we can get to keep those going. So feel free to contract your stuff, anywhere in New Eden, to me and I'll make sure it finds a new action packed home.
But I'd rather you didn't quit.
Eve is much better with you in it. Give it some time and eventually you'll find another way to do that thing you were doing. Maybe even a better way. Or maybe a new way. Or maybe, just maybe, you'll find something new to do.