The other day I watched a video from an Eve player who had grown weary of Eve Online. I admit I was curious. I watched the entire thing. And no, I will not be linking to it here today. I don't want to help promote what I believe is an enormous pile of wrong thinking about this game. The sad part for me is just how wide-spread this kind of thinking is in our community. And how dangerous it can be to the long-term viability of our beloved universe.
Now, to be perfectly clear - you are free to think whatever you want. I've said it a million times, Eve Online is not for everyone. It isn't that kind of game. It isn't any kind of game to be fair. Is it even really a game at all? We can debate all of those definitions until the cows come home and never reach a conclusion. What I do know is this - there are a lot of prevalent misconceptions about Eve Online out there and very few people willing to set the record straight.
The biggest one based on what I've been hearing all these years is about ISK. I understand that many players make ISK to either help to pay, or totally pay for their Omega subscriptions. And that is a worthy goal if that is how you want to do it. Nothing wrong with that. But the problem starts when making ISK is your entire goal. Why? As the author of that video discovered, making ISK itself is not a very fulfilling goal and eventually it will drive you mad. Or worse, drive you out of the game. Now, if you have some goal in mind that you are working towards and that goal requires vast amounts of ISK in order to accomplish it - more power to you. I suspect 99% of players don't need much ISK to play Eve.
Statistics say I'm right. I know this because apparently, based on what I've seen, Rixx is among the top 1% when it comes to wealth in Eve. And I am not a wealthy player. What I am is a CEO/Alliance Executor of a group of Pirates who annually hosts several large and expensive events - the FFA and our run at the Alliance Tournament. And I have never once successfully completed a single PvE event inside the game. I have just enough ISK to cover those expenses, keep me in ships for the next decade and help our Corp/Alliance when needed. That's it. ISK making is not why I play Eve. Because that would be dumb. ISK is a tool, not a goal. Don't be a slave to grinding. Be committed to your goals. Whatever those happen to be.
The thing about a Sandbox game that many people tend to overlook is that it works both ways. The universe is there for you to do what you want to do, choose your own adventure. The power of that isn't simply about picking something to occupy your time doing - it is also there to help you decide what is WORTH your time doing. What do you want to spend your valuable game time actually doing? What brings you joy? Happiness. Fulfillment. I know people who actually enjoy the process of gathering materials, transporting those materials, and successfully building assets they can then provide or sell to other players. I can say that about a thousand other activities. Exploring. Transporting. Mining. Trading. The list is a long list.
The pressure can be immense. But it is, after all, only pressure that you allow to affect your choices. Make your own choices. You will quickly find that the choices you make for yourself are the ones you enjoy the most. And that ultimately you find most fulfilling in the end.
Find people that share those goals. Work together to achieve them. It is amazing.
If I could boil it all down to simple advice, it would be this. Play this game for you. Play it how you want to play it. It is the only way to truly enjoy this weird sandbox game.