I am traveling ATM so EVE is laptop only, a reduced ability gameplay mode. But I have been loggin' in and collectin' the daily freebies just like Noob said...
"Dear Bob, what have I done now...? I feel responsible, and surely you are now locked in for another 16 days to grab all the freebies for EVE XVI...."
He added that his last post was...
"...effectively me shouting OMG while slapping my head repeatedly as my eyes bugged out over the joy in depth of EVE. It's good to see you back in the black!"
Which is exactly how it came across!! And yes, to a degree, it was one of the catalysts for me jumping back into EVE. But later that night, that first night back ingame, when I finally logged off and sat back, I had a strong feeling that this was not me or even Tur "returning" to the game I had known and loved, this was a new page for me an Tur in EVE... Like sailing and all the changes that I have gone through IRL these last two years. Yes, they are "my" experiences but, they are not any part of my old life, that book is closed.
My relationships with my kids are strong and stable and evolving, as they should. They are in those weird weird teen years, on the very cusp of becoming independent human beings. This is the time to begin the transition from purely a "parent", the Makers of All Rules and Payers of All Bills to the (hopefully) Wise Mentor and, if yer lucky, also a true friend to them. It is the time to begin showing them how respect is earned, by showing them the respect they have earned from you. And punishment must now give way to discussion, dialog and a transfer of responsibilities, with all attendant costs and risks... and rewards. And my two? so far, so good.
My divorce is finalizing on good terms thank the gods. CJ is well and we are solid and happy. Job prospects are good, and we have decided to take advantage of this break to sail in a number of distance races, among them the Annapolis to Newport. A Chesapeake Bay / Atlantic Ocean race, 475nm from Annapolis MD to Newport RI. We will sail in excess of 1,000nm total by the end and spend almost two weeks under sail (there and back) that race alone.
So EVE? I sit here on my laptop alone, no 22" monitors, no surround sound quad speakers w/ separate Bass woofer, and my USB headset won't unfuck itself and get recognized... sheesh. So I am loggin' in, just don't feel confident tryin' to get on comms and join in any ops as I'm just not comfortable with the limits of this setup.
So I am using the time to get consolidated in Visteen. I have worked on getting a grip on some doctrine, or at least corp acceptable, fits for my preferred gameplay and I recently brought in a Onyx properly fitted with them newfangled Zero Point Mass Entanglers instead of the ol Dubblebubble Hictor I knew and loved... <sigh> So now I have to update my 'Sword Hole Closer fit as the ol dubblebubble is so "last year dahling..."
So I log on but stay off comms, being on comms is a way of saying I'm here enough to play with others, being logged in but off comms is I'm not... and so I shuttle or Sneaky Pete my Prowler out to Amarr and back regardless of the hops and read chat, blogs, check Pathfider, etc. and I play on PYFA and play the market a little.
I am low on funds and have been stripping and selling old hulls and separating and selling unused gots-too-damn-many of em modules and I did not know PLEX had been split into smaller whatever they are's, 'plex' singles I guess? Anyhoo I sold off what amounts to 1/2 of the "1" PLEX I had left to Tur's name which was nice and is now of course all gone.
Anyhoo, so that's about what I'm up to for the next 2 weeks, well... week an half now I guess. I might just stay in Hisec till I get home and have access to more than this 17" screen and text only comms, then I will be ready to fleet up and undock and make some ISK, and hopefully make some trubble too...
Take care, and fly it like yer hold is full of PLEX... or plexes, or whatever...
=/|)=
Good to see your posts coming through my reader again. An interesting comment about how the changes in your life over the last couple years have meant you are more starting anew in EVE instead of returning as old. Have fun with your extended sailing.
ReplyDeleteYeah... when I was catching up on your blog it wasn't anything in particular that kicked it off, just a realization, I suddenly just saw the correlation between my EVElife and my Real Life:
Delete(1) the thrill of the "scary";
in EVE it's PVP. The "Loss is Real" paradigm in EVE was the biggest draw to EVE for me, starting with my sons and including over time the friends we made... You vest yourself in the game, your time, effort and yes, the cost. It is after all $15US a month on top of your ingame costs/losses etc. So there is a very real correlation of RL "cost" and therefore RL "value" to EVE. Everything we make can be utterly destroyed in EVE. Loss is Real.
in sailing the "scary" is death. When you sail offshore, you are ON YOUR OWN. It is in the end just you, your crew and your boat. Help is not a few minutes away, nor even a few hours away, it may be at best be days or weeks away and over the vast majority of the worlds oceans 'help' will never come at all. You cannot "pull over and deal with" whatever has gone wrong... you don't have the time. You are on your own in an environment that is basically inimical to human life. Whether or not you survive is up to you and your crew.
(2) the thrill of "freedom";
in EVE you are free to do anything, morally and socially and technically, that you can do in the game. You can, if you accept the risks, fly ANY where... bringing Point #1 into the mix when you fly into lowsec, nullsec, or negsec. And my friend Noob comes through again... just look at his latest post... to see this in action.
in sailing the thrill of "freedom" is the same... in too many ways. 75% of the world is covered in water and almost all of that can be sailed for free (the wind is free, but it is also capricious). There are still parts of our world here in the 19th year of the new millennium where Pirates of the High Sea's really are REAL, and these pirates really do indiscriminately kill and rob. They are not noble and they have no moral code, they are desperate men, murderers and thieves as all real world criminals are... and we must avoid them. But that too is part of the thrill, freedom means again, you are on your own out there. There are no cyno's at sea.
(3) the thrill, the sheer FUN of flying/sailing;
in EVE we all really enjoy the virtual flight of our ships. The graphics in EVE are world renowned, the art of EVE has been accepted into MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art).
in sailing... ahhh... to be under the canvas, to be moving by the power of wind and your muscle and skill. You do not drive a sailboat like a car... you RIDE it like a 40' long surfboard!! You don't push a gas pedal, you haul with all you have on sheets and halyards, to fine tune the set of the immense sails against the wind and tide... YOU are IN the engine, a part of it. And it is among the greatest joys in my life.
So, I wrote and posted my "Goodbye" post and in the aftermath I asked myself, "But, does it have to be just 'one or 'tuther'? why not both...?"
Answer... I logged on. =]