All I do in Eve is player versus player combat. Small gang, solo, and whatever else happens to pop up. Combat is my sole focus. While that statement is true, it is also a gross over-statement - because I also run an Alliance, a Corporation, and manage large events. But essentially combat is what I focus on. This is both a good and bad thing. Focus is good and I enjoy that aspect of Eve Online very much. I'm extremely fortunate that I have the opportunity, after playing for so long, to be able to afford that focus. I don't have to do anything else to sustain my gaming habit.
Over time however my knowledge, experience, and instincts about other aspects of Eve Online have suffered. I rely on my friends on a lot of knowledge when needed. Knowledge about sites, NPCs, excursions, and other activity that I know very little about. I do try to stay current on general knowledge, but generally speaking I don't need to know the details. I don't run sites, I just warp into them to engage the person who is running the site. Goodness knows there is enough to keep in your head about a single subject in this insane game of ours. No one can be an expert at everything.
And most of the time this tunnel vision serves me extremely well. But recently a couple of incidents happened that showcased how this lack of specific knowledge can get you killed. The other day a corp mate asked for help. He had gotten himself tackled in a belt and was having a tough time fending off the rats in the belt. I immediately grabbed a random ship (seriously, just randomly picked an Omen Navy from the hangar) and warped into the belt to help kill the tackle. As soon as I landed I was also tackled and within a short time I was in my pod headed back to the station. Apparently, a cruiser was the wrong choice. I re-shipped and we saved his ship eventually. But damn, those Diamond rats are brutal. Whatever those are.
In another instance I tackled a Tengu running a site with my cheap Loki. (I always keep a cheap and not-cheap version of each T3 on hand) (Also, just to be clear, "cheap" is relative as this one was about 650m or so). Anyway, what I didn't know was the rats in this site also tackle and shoot people who are only trying to help them. Yep, lost the Loki.
I bring this all up to remind the reader that Eve is friggin' complicated. And even 17 year veterans can make boneheaded mistakes. It happens. I shrug these moments off, but I also know that I should pay attention to them, learn from them, and try not to make the same stupid mistakes again. You never stop learning.
I know a lot more about these things today. But I also know that in six months I'll probably have forgotten much of it. And the cycle continues. If you don't use it, you tend to lose it.