Rocket Man
Sir Elton John is singing in my ear as I sit, a cloaky bastard in an Astero, just outside a novice plex. 'Losing everything is like the sun going down on me'. The song reminds me of Eve, and I get to thinking a good Captain shouldn't let losses get to them too much. It's all just ammo to use and abuse for our enjoyment right?
My thoughts are interrupted by an atron on grid, he lands 5k off me and punches into the plex. The moment he disappears off-grid, I uncloak and punch gate. This technique almost always works to catch a target by surprise on the beacon. The fellow gives me a good fight, but his t1 frig is no match for my faction bling, and he dies in a fire.
I jeffed in local, and headed out to the next system, thinking that this new fit was going to work out just fine. It's a little expensive, but I should be able to kill a lot of my fellows and travel in relative safety. Definitely worth the faction mods.
I died in a blaze of mediocrity to a code gatecamp at the next jump, spawning only about 900km from a wreck and preventing a cloak. Then they got my pod, ugh. I haven't been caught out like that in a long time. It was a tough loss, poor Vera didn't deserve to die like that, she barely saw space at all. It got me to thinking, in this unforgiving environment, what was the real worth of that spaceship
A ships true value is not so easy to determine. A vehicle in real life depreciates in value as soon as it drives off the lot. Ships in game are not so different. The nature of sudden and unexpected death in this game means that every successful journey is an allowance from Bob. And really, the longer you fly them, the less valuable they are.
At some point you have to concede that you have made your monies worth out of a ship. Maybe you are isk positive in kills, or you have ground an acceptable amount of isk to warrant getting caught by the hunter. Maybe you just had a great time in it and so, gg.
To me, as a ship approaches one of these criteria, it becomes less valuable, even if it's not technically. As long as a ship has had a good life, I am usually happy enough to lose it.
So thats all well and good, but Eve forces us outside these criteria pretty quick. The goal of many players is to interrupt our activities. Outsmarting each other is a major feature of this game, and making it hurt more is the icing on the cake. Many is the time I have lost a ship to a player I did not wish to fight, or in an unsatisfying encounter with another group, be it blobs, camps, or other dishonorable ends. But on the other hand, much of my day is spent in similar pursuits, trying to outsmart and smother the life from my compatriots, so I shouldn't complain. If I didn't get dunked upon from time to time I wouldn't appreciate the game for what it is.
New Eden is unforgiving, but we thrive in that. We like hard games, and we like to challenge ourselves. Eve is maybe the last game where losses really hit you in the feels. There are some others that try, DayZ and Minecraft hardcore survival mode come to mind, but they mostly lack the depth that forces you to care that much in the first place. They certainly lack the ability to allow you to set and follow a complex set of goals and come out on top like Eve.
At the heart of it, that coming out on top gives you a real life feeling of accomplishment, just as much as you feel that loss in your gut. Next time you are there, that feeling comes right back, maybe even stronger.
Sometimes this game sucks, I better embrace it if I hope to continue as a Capsuleer for any length of time. You can't enjoy the good without perspective, and you really can't play Eve without it either.
My thoughts are interrupted by an atron on grid, he lands 5k off me and punches into the plex. The moment he disappears off-grid, I uncloak and punch gate. This technique almost always works to catch a target by surprise on the beacon. The fellow gives me a good fight, but his t1 frig is no match for my faction bling, and he dies in a fire.
I jeffed in local, and headed out to the next system, thinking that this new fit was going to work out just fine. It's a little expensive, but I should be able to kill a lot of my fellows and travel in relative safety. Definitely worth the faction mods.
I died in a blaze of mediocrity to a code gatecamp at the next jump, spawning only about 900km from a wreck and preventing a cloak. Then they got my pod, ugh. I haven't been caught out like that in a long time. It was a tough loss, poor Vera didn't deserve to die like that, she barely saw space at all. It got me to thinking, in this unforgiving environment, what was the real worth of that spaceship
A ships true value is not so easy to determine. A vehicle in real life depreciates in value as soon as it drives off the lot. Ships in game are not so different. The nature of sudden and unexpected death in this game means that every successful journey is an allowance from Bob. And really, the longer you fly them, the less valuable they are.
At some point you have to concede that you have made your monies worth out of a ship. Maybe you are isk positive in kills, or you have ground an acceptable amount of isk to warrant getting caught by the hunter. Maybe you just had a great time in it and so, gg.
To me, as a ship approaches one of these criteria, it becomes less valuable, even if it's not technically. As long as a ship has had a good life, I am usually happy enough to lose it.
So thats all well and good, but Eve forces us outside these criteria pretty quick. The goal of many players is to interrupt our activities. Outsmarting each other is a major feature of this game, and making it hurt more is the icing on the cake. Many is the time I have lost a ship to a player I did not wish to fight, or in an unsatisfying encounter with another group, be it blobs, camps, or other dishonorable ends. But on the other hand, much of my day is spent in similar pursuits, trying to outsmart and smother the life from my compatriots, so I shouldn't complain. If I didn't get dunked upon from time to time I wouldn't appreciate the game for what it is.
New Eden is unforgiving, but we thrive in that. We like hard games, and we like to challenge ourselves. Eve is maybe the last game where losses really hit you in the feels. There are some others that try, DayZ and Minecraft hardcore survival mode come to mind, but they mostly lack the depth that forces you to care that much in the first place. They certainly lack the ability to allow you to set and follow a complex set of goals and come out on top like Eve.
At the heart of it, that coming out on top gives you a real life feeling of accomplishment, just as much as you feel that loss in your gut. Next time you are there, that feeling comes right back, maybe even stronger.
Sometimes this game sucks, I better embrace it if I hope to continue as a Capsuleer for any length of time. You can't enjoy the good without perspective, and you really can't play Eve without it either.
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