CCP often likes to call Eve a "Friendship Machine" and I think that is certainly an appropriate way to think of it. It is a social engine both in-game and out of game. But we often think of that as a "community" based outlook - one that encompasses the players, devs, and bitter vets that interact within the game itself. And, nothing wrong with that, but it ignores other aspects of the impact that Eve Online can make in our lives.
Back in 2014 as my first line of Eve based spaceship posters was coming together, we started planning our trip to our very first Fanfest in early 2015. For our very first trip together overseas we wanted to try and find time to see the country as well as hang out with our fellow space nerds. It was a decision that would stay with us for every trip we would make in the future, we even went to far as to travel to Iceland once without a Fanfest to go to. But we didn't want to just take any old tour while we were there. We wanted to find someone who could take us out without the crowds and give us a personal experience. Luckily my lovely Wife happened upon a new tour company that had only recently started.
And that is how we first met Bessi. We spent two days with him on that first trip and we've traveled with him ever since on each of our subsequent trips to the land of fire and ice. Over the years we became good friends and even had dinner at his parents home in northern Iceland. (One of the best meals ever!) Just a few weeks ago during the latest Fanfest we spent two days together having even more adventures. So it was a surprise afterwards when he told us he was coming to visit America for the first time. For a short trip to New York city.
I've been to New York myself so many times I can't actually remember how many, mostly on business trips in the nineties and early two-thousands. I've been to the convention centers for numerous business related events like Comic-Con and even once to the Housewares Show for Hoover vacuums. And my Wife has also been several times as well as being a native New Yorker, having been born in upstate NY. But we had never been to the city together. So it sounded like the perfect excuse to change that.
We had a great trip. And I won't bore you with all the details. Great food. And a Depeche Mode concert in Brooklyn at the Barclay's Center. Subway rides. Taxi rides. And lots of people watching. We even managed to stay at a brand new Hotel in Times Square. Which was interesting to say the least. Point being, at least for this post, is that Eve is the reason we became friends - and the reason why our lives continue to intersect. But Eve has nothing to do with our friendship.
We often say that we could land anywhere on this planet and probably bump into someone we know from Eve Online - and I think that is probably true. Ultimately it is the friendships that truly matter in the long run. Those made in-game, out of game, and even those made because of the game.
We owe a lot to this crazy game and at the top of that list is certainly the friends we've made along the way.
Now I have to get back to making more art for more cards.
o7