Third Party Services

I was approached by two people that I know very well to be their third party in the exchange of a high value asset. I was rather honored. I was to be given a large mount of ISK and something expensive with the expectation to give it back. I of course, said yes. I then asked if I could write about it. They chuckled at me and told me that they expected that part.

It amused me. I was more excited to write about the happening than anything else. Some might wish to take said items. But, I've built a lot of my personal reputation off of trust. It's sometimes an awkward task considering the piracy and PvPing. Some people simply will never belief what I say because of it. And that is fine. Eve is a game with complex trust decisions. I've said it before but repeating myself is fun. There is a lot of trust in Eve. There is a lot of reliance. For every negative thing that happens to someone the chances are great more positive things have happen. It falls under the simple trait of human nature to magnify the negatives and dismiss the positives. As one of my co-workers loves to say, "You can build a hundred bridges but fuck up once and you're a fuck up forever." For every theft there are hundreds of trust transactions. For every tightly woven group who share and give and take freely and thoughtfully, the one time Vov wipes out a wormhole corporation suddenly, you cannot trust anyone in Eve.

Most of my boys buy blind from my store. I have established a level of trust with them and the market that they do not feel that they are being screwed over. They assume that they are not. This is something that I have earned. I earned it in the same way that I buy back mistaken purchases (from my corporation/friends/associates). The other day someone purchased 230 Navy Cap Booster 400’s instead of 30. I purchased the excess back. I’ve done it before for a typo where 5k ammo turned into 50k worth of ammo. I’ve purchased ships back people realized that they would not fly and I have special orders that corp members request because they use them regularly enough.

All of this is a back and forth of trust and communication between us. I have asked them to trust me. They have been given reason to trust me and given me that trust. I then do not abuse it because it is valuable to me. The return is appreciation which causes me to turn around and continue to do as I do and such we make a beautiful circle of amazing social interaction that brings tears to the eye.

It isn't a circle full of complete and total idealism. Intermixed with it is simple, intelligent behavior. It is similar to locking a car door. It is just smart to do. There may always be a day that there is an awox or corp theft. Someone may always smash out my window to enter my car. However, the basic measure of locking my door cuts 99% of the efforts. The simple act of not being an idiot cuts 99% of the problems in Eve as well.

I'm often asked how I feel about the scams and dark side of Eve. I'm fine with them. It is just not how I wish to play. I don't want to scam people. to be asked to buy and move a large amount of assets for someone with no collateral... to be asked to do a huge third party transaction... those things are where some of the fun in Eve is for me.