I tend to get a lot of feedback in local chat while playing Eve. Normally it is a friendly wave in local from someone who recognizes me. This can happen once or twice a session, or often dozens of times. While it often breaks the immersion (and brings attention to me in local), I never mind. It is as much a part of my game now as anything else. It comes with the territory.
This policy of openness extends into other corners however. Often after a fight I will get a convo request from the other pilot, which if I'm not still in the throws of a fight, I will always take. (I also often convo the other pilot myself to try and offer some friendly advice.) Yesterday this policy led to some interesting conversations. It is incredible to me that a game as old and long-standing as Eve can still generate such wide and varied opinions, perspectives, and attitudes as it does.
I was accused of being a bot. Of being narcissistic, a serial killer and a number of other things for having the audacity to explode a gentleman's Venture. What kind of sick, perverted person must I be? Let me be clear (for those just joining us) that Stay Frosty policy is that all Ventures have to die. This is because they have WCS built into them. As such we believe they are a scourge upon New Eden that must be eliminated. We do not kill Ventures for sport, or to pad our killboards, or to punish noobs. Killing Ventures is like squashing cockroaches, something you just do when you see one. It's nothing personal.
Try explaining that in-game to someone who is obviously very angry about bots destroying Project Discovery and ruining things for Covid patients all over the world. Yep. Turned out that was the core issue. Again, I don't make this stuff up. I don't have to.
Later I was accused of bringing too much to a fight when the target ran away. Only to later have that same pilot bring help to a fight he needed in order to win. Which is always fun. Look, we all want to win. The thing is, we don't all announce it in local by making the other person feel bad about it. Only to do the same thing ten minutes later. Not cool.
And then Tia and I were out hunting a couple of ships when we spotted a VNI on scan. I was in a Legion and Tia was in a Wolf. There was just two of us and we had been hunting bigger prey, which is why I brought the Legion. After chasing the VNI around a bit he convo'd us and turns out he is in E-Uni and someone we bump into regularly. He asked for a 1v1 with the Wolf and Tia agreed. I warped in and sat cloaked to watch and make sure it wasn't bait. It was a good fight and eventually they broke off and warped away. At any moment I could have easily de-cloaked and exploded the VNI. But I didn't. Our Code prevents it and if I had broken that, I would have had to kick myself from my own Corp.
Both sides had fun. And he said some nice things about me and Stay Frosty in local. Which is always good to hear. We do strive to bring good content and danger to wherever we fly. But never in a way that tries to ruin someone else's game, or that brings negativity to the experience. We fly to have fun. And to bring that sense of adventure to all of our encounters. That isn't an easy mission. And sometimes, from another perspective, it can look totally opposite. That's the way of the game.
But it is that goal that has kept us alive for almost eight years now and that has brought Stay Frosty fame and fortune in New Eden. Not everyone is going to appreciate that when it explodes the ship they happen to be flying in. And I understand that.
I'm just not going to stop doing it.
I need your loot.