The Eve Online community excels at being mad, of throwing tantrums, and shooting unarmed monuments in Jita. We are not shy about it. Make someone mad and you could easily be looking at decades worth of angry tweets, nasty comments in local, or down-voted Reddit posts. Trust me here, I know. There is a guy who is still butt-hurt over an incident that happened 10 years ago and he doesn't miss a chance to tell me about it. It's hilarious.
With Thanksgiving approaching here in the states, I thought it might be more constructive to focus on the things for which I am thankful. Eve Online wise. Let's give a moment to consider the good stuff. So without further preamble, here are a bunch of things I am thankful for in and around Eve Online. One of these might shock you! (I'm kidding, how would I know?)
• The Metaverse - I feel like the word "community" might vanish into this metaverse concept in the coming years, but for now let us take a deep breath and appreciate that this thing exists in the first place. We log into a single shared universe of thousands with a few clicks, plug into a vital and ever changing galaxy of people, spaceships, and crazy goings-on. That will never stop being incredible. That "brouuush" sound when the log-in screen comes up still gets me. Eve Online itself is worth being thankful for. Thanks Eve Online for being there.
• Alliance/Corp - Stay Frosty and A Band Apart are two of the things I am most thankful for in all of New Eden. This fact will come as no surprise to anyone. They are a great bunch of players and I never, ever take them for granted. Thanks for choosing to fly with me and for making my time in Eve amazing. You all rock.
• CCP - I am thankful for every single person that works at CCP and the work they do to keep the lights on, update the things, and generally keep this place running. That doesn't mean I always approve of the things they do, or of the choices that are often made. Or excuse them for ignoring Faction Warfare for so long. But I can still appreciate the challenges of working with all of us. We don't always make it easy. And I could never be angry with the Art Department or the Community Team! (Even though I was sad to hear that Fleebix is leaving us!) Thanks CCP workers!
• The Outside World - Otherwise known as the community, the expanded universe, the meat farm, however you want to describe it. The people. My friends. I keep playing this crazy game and doing everything I do because of them. Because of you dear reader. I've made a lot of friends these past 13+ years and I'm going back to Fanfest yet again because I miss seeing you in person. When all is said and done, this is the real reason why I can't stop.
This is not a complete list, but I think these are the four cornerstones of the building. Whenever I get down or question my sanity or my choices, I try to think of these. And remember to be thankful that they exist. It really does help to keep things in perspective.
And finally thank you dear reader. Thanks for stopping by. The fact that so many of you choose to stop by here every so often keeps me energized to keep writing and sharing. So thank you.