I get yelled at a lot. I get called a lot of names. Other players are often very upset and angry when they talk to me in local. This is understandable. Most of the time these interactions happen after I've removed them from their spaceship. If they didn't fly well, or the insults are too harsh, I might even be holding their pod while they blather on about "fairness" or "cowardice" or something about my family origins. Again, I understand the inclination. Loss in Eve can often feel extremely personal. Especially right after it happens.
When I first turned onto the path of the Pirate I admit I often struggled with the morality of my choices. There are plenty of old posts in this blog that deal with those issues. About what makes a Pirate, how we choose targets, and the moral ambiguity of those choices.
What I've discovered is that there is no moral ambiguity. Eve is a clear cut game between two classes of people - survivors and non-survivors. On a micro scale that scopes down to engagements of one frigate fighting another and scaling all the way up to the macro scale of massive coalitions fighting over resources and e-peen in Null Sec. One side wins, the other side loses. It's simple. This scale also exists in time. What I mean by that is also simple, time is also a factor. I might lose a single fight, but I might win the next one, or the next dozen. Over the course of 13 years I might just win over 10,000 of them. Because I am a survivor.
I've also removed most moral choices from my game. By treating everyone equally. Every ship in space (outside our Alliance) is a potential target. I don't look people up on zKill, or choose targets based on names, corps, alliances, or anything else other than the ship they are flying. Is the ship they are flying within my target window or not? It used to be that age might become a determining factor, but skill injectors have largely removed that consideration. Last week I saw a player who was a month old flying a Gila. And old players who are returning to Eve after 10 years away also exist. Age is no longer a factor, so I rarely ever consider it. If you are in a ship you are a potential target.
It is never personal.
My only job, the only thing I do in Eve, is remove people from their spaceships. For all I know when I engage your ship, you might just be the world's greatest pilot in that ship. I assume you are and prepare accordingly. Because I don't want to lose my ship. My ship is an investment, large or small, that I am putting at risk by engaging you. I might lose it. So I fight to win. And my hope, my sincere hope, is that you will also fight to win. Because nothing in this game means more to me than a good fight. A close call. A surprising victory. You put up a good fight and you have my respect, win or lose. You don't and I will probably pod you home. Although if you do turn out to be very young, I will most likely give you a chance to escape. I'm really not an evil person.
It is hard finding fights in Eve. No one wants to be exploded. You guys run away, dock up, hide in safe spots, align out, and do everything you can to escape. My goal is to catch you. Catch you in an active environment where other people are potentially also hunting me. It is an extremely risky piece of business. And I do this all the time. I do it all the time because there is nothing else in Eve that I enjoy more than hunting and catching other players. That is my fun. I find it to be extremely challenging, rewarding, satisfying and to be honest - a blast.
My hope is that you learn something and take advantage of that time element. Survive and return someday a better pilot, a better player, and one that understands the truth about what this game is really about. The only winners are the ones left standing when the dust clears. Will that be you? Or will that be me?
The answer to that question is why I undock.