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The more I learn the less I know

I don't think I'm some awesome prodigy. Yet, as I seek to learn more about Eve I figure out how little I know about Eve. It creates a strange image of the deep, foggy trench that is my ignorance mixed with my desire to learn. I don't expect to learn the entire game but I'd like to get comfortable with it.

During one of our random, early morning chats, my CEO told me I need more bittervet. I was pleased by the compliment, but reminded him that I'm two months in and everything is covered in a sparkly layer of new glitter for me. I was told that I needed more Bittervet again. *chuckle*

Ever since my drop in sector status a few days ago, I've been treated a little bit differently by some. I was asked:

"Who did you pod?"

"I didn't pod anyone."

"You are down to a -2"

"I didn't pod anyone."

"Uh Huh"

"My corp boards are public."

So the corp board was looked up and the fact that I did not attack a pod was confirmed.

Being a pirate has some unexpected hard parts to it. Not unbearable parts, but unexpected hostility. I shrug it off. My killboard is public after all and anyone can see that my fights are all in low sec. Right now they are all in fleets as well. I'm learning and I'm happy to learn.

Which caused me to get into a mild, verbal altercation last evening with someone in a social channel. I was tired of him going on and on and on about faction warfare and what a PvPer he was. His killboard was pretty even for wins and losses. According to him, that's how you play. Another character has been playing for years and is starting to dabble his toes into PvP. He is reading and researching what it is, tactics, strategies, ships, fits, and all that good stuff. According to Mr. Man the only way to learn how to PvP effectively is to get into a frigate and die over and over again until you figure out what you are doing. You only learn through failure.

I snapped a little bit. I'm not going to say that I know shit about how to be some kinda PvP god. I do know that people, especially adult people (and Eve's player base is mostly adults) learn in many different ways. One way is to use the experience that they have with information gained to create knowledge and understanding. Then they learn to use and mold that correctly. I had a real life job where my trainer felt that the only way I'd truly learn was to fail and have that failure pointed out to me. He said I would never learn if he told me the correct answer. I would only learn through failure.

I don't agree with this learning philosophy. I will say that I am sure that it works for some people. However, it is not the 'only' way to learn. So I shat all over it because it pissed me off. Mostly because of IRL experience, and my butthurt over someone else criticizing me because I like to know what I am doing and the concepts behind it before I just run off and hope.

So he said I was adverse to losing ships without a reason.

I'm not sure how that is an insult. I absolutely am. It is not that I am risk adverse, I am stupidity adverse. If I don't know what I am doing, and I stick a bunch of mods onto a ship, and go and fly that ship with those random ass mods, and die, what have I learned? Some might figure its their fit, some might think technique, others their opponent. Some might not understand the aggression mechanics of the game itself. There are dozens of reasons and for you to have to fit and lose a ship to, hopefully, figure out each of those reasons is ridiculous to me. Why can't someone explain aggression mechanics, fits and what they are and their values. You will probably still go and get blown up. However, you might have an idea of what you did that caused it, instead of guessing about that as well.

Learning by guessing is not an effective way to learn. Having prior knowledge won't give you the skills. Yet, having an idea to work with and something to improve on is vastly superior, for me, then starting with nothing and splashing it with a lot of hope.

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