I'm probably going to regret posting this. For a wide variety of reasons. It is most likely horribly bad luck to write about my kill-board. I'm certain that after mentioning it everything will go horribly wrong. This is mostly just ingrained Pirate training at work, we are after all, a superstitious bunch. For the adults reading this I'm mostly referring to trends, probabilities, and cycles when I mention "superstition" in Eve. But whatever you want to call it, it can't last.
What am I talking about? For the first time in a long time my entire first page on zKill is 100% green. This has happened before, but it is rare enough in my line of work and with my play-style that it warrants a mention. Especially in light of the reasons why it has happened. But before I get to those reasons a few words about the green page. As far as how I play the game day-to-day nothing has changed, I'm still taking the same fights I always take. In fact, amongst that page is a couple of fleets and larger engagements I FC'd. As well as lots of solo and small gang encounters, often against challenging odds. There are a few good 2v1 and 3v1 scattered in there. As always. And also, admittedly, some easy wins as well. As I always say, I can only fight what is in space.
If you remember back to my June 27th post, "Mistakes Happen" where I tried to come to terms with a truly monumentally stupid thing I did which led to the loss of my Loki, you'll see where this all started. I made myself a promise that day to stop being aggressively casual and start paying more attention, more often. Over the years I have a tendency to experience what I call, "Lapses of Judgement" which usually come about due to boredom. I get bored and I make dumb decisions. I don't know the statistics on this but I do know that often my days will end on on dumb loss, a fight I shouldn't have taken, simply because I was bored. End of the day dumb.
So I simply stopped doing that. I also started doing something new with my time inside of the game, I have started taking boredom breaks. When things start getting slow I'll dock up and take a real life break for 5-10 minutes and then come back to the game. I find this really helps with concentration and focus. I have no idea if that would work for everyone or not, but it does seem to be helping me. Typically I just stay active the entire session with the only breaks coming for a quick bio or personal phone calls, etc. Now, maybe once or twice per session, I just get up from my desk to take a break.
Whatever the reasons it feels good. And while I know it won't last and eventually I'll splatter some red on there again, for now it feels good. I already win 75% of my fights on average so it isn't like I needed to make any drastic changes. But every once in awhile it helps to re-evaluate yourself and the way you approach the game and how you play it. And that is ultimately why I mention this today and the point I'm trying to make. No matter what you do in-game, or how you play it, it can be easy to fall into a rut. To keep making the same mistakes over and over, often without even realizing that you are doing it. So maybe take a small break, clear your head, and take a cold, honest look at what you are doing. And realize that you are in control. You can make positive changes that will impact what happens inside the game.
It isn't about being careful, or cautious, or considered in your approach. It's always about being smart.
Or, at least, smarter.