There is no end goal in Eve Online. No finish line. No achievement that results in a gold medal, or thunderous applause. No level to ultimately reach. Or someone to save. Over the decades it has been up to players to artificially create end goal scenarios inside of the game - for themselves. For a long time, being in a Null Sec alliance was generally considered a type of 'end goal' for a lot of players. Of course it was Null Sec alliances who created this concept. You don't hear that so much these days.
I think we've all generally come to the conclusion that end goals are truly an individual decision. It is up to each player to create their own narrative decisions and set goals for themselves. Or not. This is the way. And the way it should be. Your own goals are your own business. It might be to master a certain ship. Help a Corporation grow. Achieve something specific, or something more lofty. To create a vibrant YouTube channel, or become a popular streamer. Or just chip in to something bigger than yourself. There are no wrong answers. There is no wrong path. This is both the beauty of Eve and, often, it's source of frustration. It all depends on your perspective about such open-ended journeys.
From day one I personally had a vague abstract idea about mastering the game. When I logged in back in 2008 the game was just five years old. Back then it was often being sold as this insanely complex, dark, dystopian, impossible to master universe. The infamous skill cliff meme was still fresh back then. The idea that someone could master the game was a generic concept that appealed to me. Over the years I've come to understand the universe better and the game even more so. I passed my 10,000 hours years and years ago. Mastery remains a daily struggle, but it long ago lost its mystique. It has been replaced by a series of large and small goals. And a general sense of lasting impact. Of potentially joining the always evolving pantheon of truly great players who have played this game of ours.
The inside and outside of Eve have achieved balance. Eve has come to dominate my life in ways I could not have imagined in those early days. Today I no longer think in terms of end goals. Or maybe it is simply a better understanding about the fact that I never really ever thought about it in terms of end goals at all. Which is, honestly, more accurate. Why think about endings? At this point in the journey I might as well think about death itself. Because those two things are probably most likely the same thing. And who wants to dwell on that?
My advice has always been this - choose your goals carefully and create both large and small goals to help you focus on your own journey. I will often use the dumbest things to help motivate my activities, small meaningless goals - like getting 4 more kills in a Jaguar - to help motivate my play for a specific day. Or bigger goals to help set a goal to achieve down the road - like hosting the upcoming FF4A in Amamake. (On Saturday March 29th btw) I find these types of goals work well in keeping the engine running. I've also become much happier inside of Eve ever since I made the commitment to dedicate a set couple of hours each Saturday to running a fleet every week. I started those over two years ago and I really, really look forward to them each week.
All of which is to say this - I don't like the concept of end goals in Eve Online. Because that means I'm going to stop once they've been achieved. And I don't like that idea. I'd rather just keep playing.