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A Passive Strike

The last time I made a killboard entry was January 3rd, 2015. It wouldn't be considered much of a kill. I popped an AFK pod on the station. Before that, it was December 13th, 2014. In December, I was frantically preparing for the Winter Summit which was only a month away. A huge amount of changes had hit Eve and we had changed our personal schedules a little bit.

I was also campaigning for CSM10. In March, I was reelected and I was confronted by someone who pointed out that I was inactive. How could I be a CSM rep when there was nothing on my killboard?

Like many situations, I tried to explain. Like many explanations, mine sounded like excuses. I was busy doing CSM stuff. I worked. I was struggling to time zone well. My husband wasn't travelling so I couldn't come home from work and play with no attention to anything else.

And, as so often happens when someone holds me to a standard I don't believe in, I got mad. I was building capitals at the time. I was running a market. I was doing CSM stuff. I was participating in various educational things. I was so busy that PvPing was something I did not have time to do and I was called inactive. It wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last time but I realized I was sick and tired of it.

I walked away from PvP and went on strike from it without telling anyone. It was my own personal pool of bitterness. If I was going to be judged only by what was on my killboard then let them eat cake. I'm pretty sure that is a famous quote. I walked away from PvPing to see if I could bring value without it. The answer, for the environment that I have spent so much of my Eve time in was no. It left me with a lot to ponder and ponder I have been over the months.

But PvPing I have not been. After a year on strike, I still feel the same way about it. I don't actually care. I PvPed because I enjoyed the social aspect of it. My attempts to solo have failed due to boredom. I have no attention span when bored. I don't care about pushing myself for some goal. I don't care about being the best. I just enjoyed hanging out with people but that makes me much to casual to be driven by PvP. I'm driving by my social connections in game.

What does my future hold when it comes to my adventures in blowing up other space ships?

I don't know. It is going to depend on where I wind up and who I wind up with. I enjoy PvP. I also enjoy not PvPing. It, for me is part of the game not why I play it. A year of not doing it makes me feel exactly the same. Maybe a bit less stressed not having to worry about making fleets on time, getting everything else done so I have fleet time, not messing up for other people.

In summary. If you don't PvP for a year you may be less stressed if PvP was something you were neutral to in the first place.

Maybe not my most interesting experiment.

Comments

  1. I've said it before but might as well say it again: you would be most warmly welcomed in Signal Cartel and whether you wanted to do exploration or not, there would be plenty to keep you from being bored. We have new players coming in all the time who need help, we have people running missions, ninja gas huffing, peacefully wormhole living, doing industry stuff, trying to build markets in Thera and elsewhere, running in Incursions fleets (when we're not war decced), and not the least of all the things, doing a lot of group and solo exploration sites. We're laid back and easy going, with no demands or expectations beyond what the Credo requires of members.

    So...the door is open, the invitation extended :) And if you should join and decide it's not a good fit, we'll kindly wish you well and truly mean it with no hard feelings. Because...we're nice like that.

    So...maybe give it a think? <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. "I enjoy PvP. I also enjoy not PvPing."

    It's been slightly over a year since my last murder and nearly that long since my last loss (and both of those on an alt). When you're busy doing stuff other than ship on ship PvP time merrily slips away. The strange thing is in many ways I'm playing more dangerous than ever but not being belligerent, ZKill maintains no record.

    On the whole, indulging one's current interests keeps the game refreshingly enjoyable. When the itch to murder returns (and I'm sure it will) the hands behind the Dire will be a little rusty but Dire herself will be more proficient than ever.

    Being patient, Dire cheerfully bides her time before once again returning to center stage. If she's comfortable with the pause, I see no reason why I shouldn't be comfortable with the pause as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "I PvPed because I enjoyed the social aspect of it." and "I don't care about pushing myself for some goal. I don't care about being the best."

    The real PVPbears who read this are gonna groan... and I just can't wait for someone to say...

    PVP is a social activity. You are interacting with other players.

    Sugar... I am a veteran wormholer and I prefer PVP over most activities in EVE, yet... I am living in a small POS in a .5 hisec system mining. Cause why not?

    You play your way and eff the haters.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My personal experience with PVPers, and let me be specific here, the people who are JUST PVPers. They don't last long. A year or two. Then they hit some personal goal or metric they didn't even know they had and are gone. It's completely anecdotal, so take it with a grain of salt.

    The people who stick around for years seem to be people who fall into two camps. Social players, which I'm not, and players who in some way shape or form get sucked into the market.

    So, for my experience at least, who cares. The person from the PVP master race who said it will most likely be gone in a year or so anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just starting my 6th year of pvping and still going strong :P

      That being said I do mix it up with a ton of carebearing/whatever random shit takes my fancy.

      Delete
  5. I don't think I could communicate in a few paltry lines how common my eve gameplay is with your perspective.

    I strictly play for the social aspect and could care less about stats, degree of leetness, or perceived challenge.

    It's amazing how few players in-game have this perspective but am hopeful that my latest corp hop will bring what I'm looking for.

    Funny thing is... I've only found accommodating communities in either Lowsec or WH's. Go figure!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know the feeling. PvP is something I like to do, but I also don't care enough for it to take notice if I don't do it for months at a time.

    (Still, I'm a bit embarrassed that I only made two kills in two years.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. If it weren't for fleet combat, FCing, and the social aspect of PvP I would have gotten bored with it much more quickly! I don't think your perspective is that uncommon

    ReplyDelete
  8. If it weren't for fleet combat, FCing, and the social aspect of PvP I would have gotten bored with it much more quickly! I don't think your perspective is that uncommon

    ReplyDelete

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