Eve is the grand spaceships sandbox. If you can think of it,
odds are you can do it. It’s a place to live out your dreams and express your
darkest desires. With its unique mechanics regarding loss, victories are made
all the sweeter and defeats all the more bitter. On my last trip on the Pod
Express I was pondering what drives us Eve players. What is it that keeps us
going in this pitiless and play-for-keeps universe we spend so much time in?
After some thought, I came up with three categories. These are hardly all
inclusive but I think they cover a vast majority of capsuleers.
Sweet Victory: The
Good Fight Feeling
Having been
involved mostly in PVP and null sec warfare as of late, this motivation was the
first to come to me. Of the many MMO’s I’ve played, Eve by far has the best,
most intense PVP out there. The rush I get when I’m a solo dogfight or a
massive fleet battle is unlike anything I’ve experienced, in a game or
otherwise.
This high
after a good fight is what I would consider the most basic of the motivations.
It’s emotional, visceral, and intense. So intense, in fact, newer PVPers often
experience what I call “the shakes”. Once you overcome the initial anxiety,
this rush can be quite addictive. Whether in the thick of battle or in all out
market PVP, this is an ever present aspect of New Eden.
There are
two essential aspects of emotional high. The first of these is the element of
risk. Eve is fairly unique in that there is no guarantee that your possessions
today will be yours tomorrow. Ships get popped, POS’s get bashed, ISK is lost
and tears are shed. This fact is ingrained in new players almost from day one,
often quite spectacularly. Whether it’s being ganked in low sec, scammed by the
denizens of Jita local, or having your corp stolen, you don’t soon forget the
first time you got burned. Frankly this sort of thing sucks, often royally.
However, the distressing lows make the victories all the sweeter.
That’s what
many pilots live for: winning that fight that would have broken the bank
otherwise, where you averted the loss of hundred of million, even billions of
ISK. It’s the difference between coming to the rescue of an Atron and saving a
freighter full of Sleeper salvage. It’s the difference between saving your high
sec POS and defending your null sec home from invaders. The more you have to
lose, the more satisfying the eventual victory.
The other
aspect of the “good fight feeling” is uncertainty. The unexpected triumph is
almost always more entertaining, more satisfying for the victor. Take a look at
killmails for example. I will guarantee you that a majority of the most popular
mails are an example someone overcoming extreme odds. They’re the sorts of
situations that, on paper, you would never expect to go the way they actually
did. What’s more interesting, a lone
frigate getting alphaed by a battleship or this? I’m
gonna guess the second one.
Greed: I want it
all
The want of
more, more ISK, more ships, more moons, more corpies, anything. Many of us come
from increasingly materialistic cultures and I believe it shows in Eve. Whether
it’s the lowly miner wanting more ore or the mighty HBC and CFC wanting more
tech moons, there is a value associated with having more. It’s debatable as why
this value is placed on collecting more and more stuff, and frankly it’s a
subject best left for another day. Suffice it to say it’s there.
The main
requirement for this goal to spur people forward is not possessing the object
in question. This is hardly ever a problem in a game as expansive as Eve. There’s
always one more system to conquer, one more asteroid to mine, one more ship to
pop. The more likely scenario is that you end up losing those objects you
managed to gain.
Once again,
we come back to risk. Risk is a funny thing for our average hoarder. On the one
hand, risk is the single greatest threat to parting you with your stuff. You
can’t lose that officer fit battleship if it never leaves the station, right?
However, in New Eden nothing is gained without some amount of risk. Risk is the
gateway to greater riches and ultimately more stuff. Ultimately, every packrat,
indeed every capsuleer, must come to a balance of accepting risk and taking on
the amount they’re comfortable with. As the Eve mantra goes, “Don’t fly what
you can’t afford to lose.”
Influence:
Becoming Space Famous
The last
motivator I will touch on is the desire to be space famous. Those who have
achieved this position are often showered with praise and derision just as
often. Simply put, this is the desire for attention.
The natural
question when looking upon these celebrities of New Eden is what makes them
famous in the first place. Of the myriad of reasons one can come up with, I
believe there’s a common thread. These are the people that provide content to
the rest of Eve. To use the sandbox analogy, the space famous are the kids that
came up with the cool games when you were young. They’re the ones that are
doing things and getting things done. People are going to naturally gravitate
to them because, frankly, making things happen in New Eden is hard work.
The
downside to this motivation is that your time in the spotlight may come to an
end. There may come a time when someone better and new comes along and takes your
place. Even worse, you may lose that special something that drew people to you
in the first place. There aren’t many things more demoralizing than finding out
you’re replaceable.
***
So you may
be asking what the take away from all this is. Put simply, I would encourage
you to evaluate your own motivations for playing Eve and seriously ask yourself
are you getting the most out of it. Try not to be motivated simply by one
factor, as that factor can easily be taken away. The last thing we want is you
to quit because the reason I play this game is for the story or game mechanics,
it’s because of the players.
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