03 January 2013

Remember That We Are EVE

Simon Pegg on Being a Geek

I ran across this today while clicking the "Random" button on Reddit. Being a self-described geek, it resonated with me a lot, and I felt like checking out the comments. Naturally, someone quoted and linked to John Scalzi's excellent post "Who Gets To Be A Geek?" It is something I think everyone should read, especially with Fanfest 2013 quickly approaching. The most important thing to take from the post is this:  
"Geekdom is a nation with open borders."
That's something that applies to EVE players, too - joining this throng of 450,000 people is joining a community of geeks, of people who all enjoy the same thing: Playing EVE Online. Maybe in different ways, but at the root of every playstyle from the oft-derided hisec carebear to the ~elite PVP~-obsessed Russian nullsecker lies the fact that everyone who plays this game does so because they enjoy it. And because of that, we are the people who represent EVE, moreso than anyone at CCP.

Everyone who plays EVE is an ambassador, even - yes - a stakeholder in the game. And the most important part of being an ambassador is to reinforce that whole "nation with open borders" thing - to make New Eden a place people WANT TO BE.

So I have a challenge for everyone. It just lasts until Fanfest is over. Here it is: Act like an Ambassador.

What's that mean? Well, it means putting your best foot forward when talking about EVE. It means less denigration of people who play EVE differently than you but enjoy it just as much. It means not letting the CSM Chairman make an ass of himself, no matter how drunk he is! It means cultivating newbies and fast-tracking them to the part of the game that they want to experience.

Why should we do this? Well, frankly, enlightened self interest - if the EVE community as whole makes an effort to make EVE itself more attractive to people who don't already play it, then that's more people to shoot, scam, and steal from. It means more of what we love.

And that's something I think we can all agree on.

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