One of the downsides of writing a blog for 14 years is the incredible archive of posts. At this point I've written over 3,000 posts in these pages. Which means when I sit down to write a new one about a certain theme, I tend to check the archives to see if I've previously written about it in one form or another. Recently this has been an issue, because 9 times out of 10 I have. And then my brain gets twisted into knots trying to figure out a new angle to write about - and then eventually I get on to other pressing issues.
After 14 years the sheer amount of accumulated weight starts to be felt in my bones. This is uncharted territory for me. Obviously I've never written anything for so long before. And it isn't just the writing, it is also the art, the memes, the comics, not to mention the actual playing of the game. It all accumulates. And piles up. Often in unexpected ways.
The other day the folks at Just About posted a bounty asking for movie posters based on Eve Online. Immediately my brain went straight to "Blood of the Empires". Nine years ago I designed an Alliance Tournament based card game called "Blood of the Empires" and took it to Fanfest with me. This was just a conceptual piece, but I wanted to show it around and get opinions on it.
So I took all of that history and turned it into the movie poster version you see at the top of this post. Luckily all of the assets I used in that post were already available to me and I spent like 20 minutes on that poster. One of the benefits of never throwing anything away. I'm a bit of a pack-rat when it comes to my own work. I hate losing files.
I'm using this as an example of just how far back in time the history stretches. And everything is like this now. There are threads that stretch back in time to the very beginning of not only this blog, but further back to the very beginning of my time in Eve Online.
Which is really just a condensed version of life, isn't it? Your life is just an accumulation of events, history, decisions and choices that pile up on you. You can't go back and change anything, all you can do is live on in the moments in front of you. Which is, after all, the only choice I have in these pages. And inside of Eve Online. Move forward.
I still believe a card game based on the AT rule set would be awesome. And I still believe a "Game of Thrones" style series set in New Eden would be incredible. Pirate Lords. Amarr Royalty. Great Houses. Immortal Gods. Spaceships. I mean, come on. It essentially writes itself.
Until next time.