May
21
The Doldrums of Eve
Eve is famous for a lot of things in the gaming community – the sandbox, the scams, the scandals. However, there is a not so glamorous, seedy underbelly to Eve Online that doesn’t get nearly as much attention. It’s the dark side of the game that no one wants to talk about, despite nearly everyone experiencing it every now and again.
The Doldrums.
Back in the Age of Sail, a strong wind was all you needed to get around the world. However, there were certain spots along the equator where the wind would die for days, or even weeks, on end. These are the doldrums – when the sea is flat, the sails are slack, and you can’t move no matter how much you might want to.
In Eve Online, I’ve suffered the doldrums. Periods of time where, despite knowing that exciting things are happening out in space, my little corner of the universe is completely listless, without motion, without wind. It is not something that you can really jumpstart out of. Similar to those old time mariners, you might try to forcibly row yourself out of the doldrums, but all you will end up doing is tiring yourself out and getting no further.
It is during these times that, it seems to me at least, you must simply remain patient. Some unsubscribe from the game and cut themselves off from it altogether, finding this better than the frustration of having a game you just can’t get motivated to do anything about. I did this once, and regretted it. Why?
We all come back. Well, not all of us – those who like to cry about space pixels soon find themselves back to playing Hello Kitty Online or Kung Fu Pandaria. For the most part, those of us who understand the game and enjoy it will always come back to Eve, our dirty little secret and constant mistress. Don’t do yourself the disservice of unsubscribing or even completely disconnecting from the community – there is plenty of fun and enjoyable content out there to enjoy without even logging in (short of swapping skills).
Just sit back, enjoy the breather, and remember that eventually you’ll be back in top form! Engage in some new projects, but don’t forget to keep those skills training. Right now I’m polishing off some Gallente stuff – by the time I get my in-game mojo back, I’ll be able to add Gallente BS and below to my list of things I can fly. Then I’ll just have to polish off Caldari….or maybe not.
In the meantime, I’m enjoying following the Saga of Faction Warfare, as tomorrow everything gets set on fire in lowsec. Figuratively speaking, of course. The fighting to establish dominance prior to the new FacWar changes has, from all reports, been fierce and unrelenting. Swing by GamerChick42’s blog for some recaps, or just listen in on Twitter (#tweetfleet) for some great stories.
As for me, I’m not going anywhere. The Eebees continue, Evebloggers.com continues, the Blog Pack continues (though if these doldrums keep up I may be forced to remove my own blog from the pack!). I have a post in need of some editing that will analyze the demographics of the Eve blogging community, using the Blog Pack as a representation of the whole. Quite enlightening and yet unsurprising when you think about it….but that’s for another day.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Fly Smart,
Marc
