Where Did I Go? Plus, England Update and Storytime :P

Soooo..... this thing still exists! Hallelujah? Maybe. :P

I'M BACK BITCHEZ!!!!! XD

Okay, thank God I don't ACTUALLY talk like that...

Hey guys :) It's been a while. I don't know how many people actually check out this place anymore, but welcome if you do. I believe my blog has been linked in a few places now in relation to the EVE Nottingham meet that is in TWO WEEKS (So excited!! XD) so who knows, maybe I have new readers! Yay!

Anyways, fan girl enthusiasm over. Let's get down to some actual stuff. :) I'm not quite sure what exactly what I was gonna talk about except letting you know I'm still alive.

As I've been still alive, I've been watching the Alliance Tournament. Now, not being able to log into EVE at the moment has started making me go just a tiny little batshit crazy about the game, and the AT has provided me with a wonderful outlet in the art of blowing up spaceships. Sad I can't blow things up myself, but there you go. Need to buy myself a new computer. But yes. My dear alliance unfortunately got beat last weekend by the incredibly lucky PL who somehow has got through the last three rounds... okay only the first two were on luck. But its been great watching and learning and seeing how all these things go.

This is the first AT I've ever watched since playing the game, as before, I wasn't in any sort of alliance that participated, so to be honest, I didn't really give a shit. But now, my beloved Shadow Cartel is kicking ass (or trying to), and I can't help but feel proud at the moments that are great, and sad at the moments that are not so great. Hellz, in that match against PL (go check it out if you haven't seen it- it was soooooo close!) I stopped breathing at one point and was watching through my fingers! Tense! Also... I might have squeaked a couple of times on comms in panic, but that can be ignored. >.> hehe

Apart from dear alliance, I've also been cheering on Feign Disorder aka 7-2. My dear friends from Molden Heath have been doing alright in their first AT, although today unfortunately was not their lucky day, and they are now in the losers bracket. But good on em! :D They had a couple of entertaining matches so ride on 7-2! I don't care if you rejected me :P You be good people. ^.^ (Plus, if you hadn't of rejected me I wouldn't have got into SC and that would be a very, very sad thing- cept to the people who would love me NOT being in alliance... paq. trouser... maybe a few others. :P)

I am grateful to Bagger (the most awesome CEO evar!) and Till, and the bunch of other people who have let me stay in this wonderful group so long. I feel incredible loyalty and thankfulness to you all, and  hope that one day I can repay the trust and amusement and effort that you've given to me. Particularly you Bagger. I don't know if you accept hugs, but if you do, you might just get one at Nottingham meet just for being awesome and letting me hang around. heh.

Admittedly, I have been hanging around in various comms a lot more, but again, boredom is a bitch combined with the non-ability to log in. I never expected EVE withdrawals to be a thing, but apparently they are. I'm starting to live and breath meta-gaming. It's a legit problem. I think I need a proper hobby.

Speaking of hobbies, I'm going to go off on a completely irrelated tangent and tell you about loom bands. They're a strange little thing that was designed for kids- yeah okay, some kids toys are great right... lego... kinnex.... etc. But they're basically rubber bands that you make into awesome patterns and bracelets and pendants and teddy bears and clothes and all sorts of little nifty things. I've become far too addicted to them, see?

 

And that was only my first few! XD

Anyways, another tangent, and a slightly longer one :P

For those who don't know, though I think you all do, I moved to England July 14th. I've been here ever since. Hopefully, I'll get a job soon and I can stay a bit longer. It's been an interesting month and a half already though. STORY TIME!

So, I got sent over here with an agency called The London Pub Company, which sets up live-in work for people from all over the world in the UK (they have pubs everywhere in the UK- supposedly), and they actually did find me a placement (as they should have for the money we stupidly paid them). It was at a place called The Running Horses, in a little cute village, quintessentially British called Mickleham. It even had a cute little church opposite it.

The job was minimum wage sure, but the area was nice (and rich!), and the manager seemed friendly enough. I had a wonderful friend that helped me move down there, and we had a great time road tripping it from Stoke (where I had been staying with my grandparents) down to good old Surrey. We debated dropping in to see W0wbagger at work, and then thought he wouldn't appreciate that, so we went on to the pub and all was well. Pulled up next to the most gorgeous pub in the cutest town and things couldn't possibly be too bad could they?

We met the manager- who seemed a bit... vague, but I brushed this off as a busy day or something. Until he showed me to my room. It hadn't been cleaned. He'd known I would be arriving that day for the last 5, and yet he hadn't had time to find someone to change the sheets on the bed, aquire pillows, clean up the dirty plates and cutlery that was lying there, nor had cleaned, dusted or so much as seemed to care about the room at all. Manager left us to it and me and my dear friend started cleaning up, discovering along the way that 1) there was no powerpoints in the room, 2) there was a dog that lived next door and had free reign of the hall, 3) the closet door was falling off and 4) the window wouldn't stay open without the use of two large sticks that had been provided for such an event.

It looked a bit better after the cleanup, so on to buying the things in town that we needed. As there was no kitchen facilities for live-in staff (cept a microwave.... >.>) we went into town and brought me a toaster, along with some basics, bread, milk, cereal, etc. We also brought some pillows, of which had not been able to find any in the room or even in the cupboards for the guest rooms of the hotel. We also brought an iron, because white work shirts and black pants need to be taken care of, and they don't look good all wrinkled. And there seemed to be none there to use. After settling in and begging my friend not to leave me here (he had to leave, but it was a worth a try), I had a bite to eat then wandered downstairs in boredom, deciding why not set off on the right foot and lend a hand somewhere?

Of course, being asked to polish wine glasses, I get a tad too enthusiastic with one and the flute shatters in my hand, cutting my finger. Great omen that. What could go wrong? It didn't take me long to realise if there was a first aid kit in the building, no one knew where it was, let alone where some 'plasters' would be (I confused everyone by asking for bandaids, until I realised that's very Australian of me, and changed my word use). I would find out the next day that while there was a first aid box... there was nothing in it. Pity that.

Next day, and I'm stuffed straight into the scrum. No matter that no paperwork or official 'you're employed now' stuff had taken place, I was being put to work!

Now... the thing about this pub, that some people love and some people (Mostly the front-of-house staff) hate is the fact that... well.... let me just show you and maybe you'll understand....

Bowties. Nowhere in my job description did it say that I was expected to wear a bowtie, and in hindsight, had I known ANYTHING important about this job, I wouldn't have accepted it. Also, when I took those photos, I'll have to note, I felt no inclination to smile for the photo, as I had just spent 40 pounds on the shirt, as M&S was the only shop in the town nearby- Dorking. FYI: 40 pounds equates to about $80).

(Side note: that desk with the towel on it was my 'ironing board', and to get power, I ended up letting the wall meet a screwdriver, and made a convenient hole in the wall that allowed me to feed the powercord for an extension lead (which of course I had to buy myself >.>) from the powerpoint in the hallway.)

Needless to say, I lasted a week. One week + 1 day. I fell in love with the locals (lovely people who were always willing to lend a hand, or an ear, or some advice) and the area (absolutely gorgeous, and I'm dissapointed I wasn't able to stay), but I knew if I stayed longer I would go insane slowly but surely- my poor friend had his phone going off all the time with my needy 'GOD I CANT DO THIS' over and over again, with some complaint about something. Patient guy that one. <3 He knows who he is. <3

Said friend also picked me up to take me home, back to my grandparents, and back to Stoke exactly 10 days after I had arrived. What a gem <3

In hindsight, and after being paid for my week of work, maybe I could have stuck it out a bit more, but to be honest, I could feel my mind already slipping away, so methinks I got out just in time.

EDIT: I have since found out that two of the chefs have left, and 5 of the staff have given notice that they're leaving to go to uni/college/school next month. I DEFINATELY got out just in time.

Anyways, that behind me, and back home and happy with my family, bowtie unhappy turns into this: my usual happy bouncy self :) (Along with stylish new coat- cause I came to England with no waterproof coats... lol).

This trip has made me learn A LOT about life and myself and people, and I copy here a facebook status I made at the start of the week- a moral booster of sorts at a moment I was feeling very, VERY dejected. 

COPY FROM FACEBOOK:

I was talking to my dear Daddy after having some misgivings, and he said among lots of fatherly wisdom (if he doesn't mind me sharing a few of his words): 'We can bring you home but I think for the moment this experience will be priceless'.

It made me really think for a second, and I've decided that each week, I'm gonna share 5 things that I've learnt about life/myself/thoughts Probably more for my sake than yours, but why not I'm gonna do more than 5, to make up for the month I've been away now.

So... Things I've learnt about life/myself/others

1. I really, really REALLY need to work on my budgeting/money management skills.
2. Eating out one night each week, while amazingly awesome, does not help ones waistline.
3. I do not miss my university course/life/teachers at all. Not even slightly. While much more difficult to manage and rather inconvenient at times, I much prefer a tad more independence- and not being told what I HAVE to write is doing wonders for my creativeness. (I'm working on a short novel )
4. This sort of leads on from the last one- I like independence. While I've enjoyed a very sheltered, supported life with my parents, I can't do that for the rest of my life, and there's something refreshing and terrifying about being able to make my own decisions and not have to ask permission for everything. I like it.
5. On the other hand, I miss living at home and not having to make as many decisions! XD
6. I love, love, love, LOVE my family. Both my immediate and extended. It's that old 'you don't know what you got till its gone'. I miss my daddy and mummy and sister and brother more than I can explain, but at the same time...
7. Social media is totally underrated. The internet is a wonderful tool that I've only just realized is extremely useful in communicating. I mean, I always knew it, but its really sunk in now you know?
8. Mobile phone companies can suck it. (Pardon my rudeness lol). They charge way too much to stuff around with phones way too much to do something that is not really very good in the end anyways.
9. I really love pork scratchings. I just don't like the ones that still have hair on them. Ick. lol
10. Don't underestimate the usefulness of ones internet/online friends. Most, if not all from Britain from that awesome world of EVE Online have been incredibly helpful. And of course, don't trust them straight away all that stuff, and still be careful, but don't underestimate their awesomeness
11. Stand up for what you believe in, and understand that you don't have to settle for less. This one seems a little odd, but after the very crappy job I was given, and the need to get out of their, don't feel guilted into staying somewhere that makes you deeply unhappy. Just don't. Don't compromise on your standards.
12. Gratitude gratitude gratitude. I've had so much given to me in my life, and I'm grateful for every tiny bit of it. I just wish I'd been more thankful in moments where I could have shown it.
13. Hugs are totally underrated.
14. Surrey is an absolutely stunning area of England, and I will miss it for sure.
15. Honeybees are to be loved, hornets are to die horrible horrible deaths.
16. Driving in a pain in the ass and public transport in England is pretty damn convenient.
17. Home Bargains is the best shop in the history of ever.
18. It's okay to cry. Just use those tears to make yourself stronger, not weaker. Feel what you need to feel, then move on. This is still my greatest struggle, and always will be, but I'll get there.

So... I've probably forgotten a bunch, and its quite a varied mix, but there we are. heh. ^.^ Have fun with those.  

A short and sweet list... sort of... but its all true, and its all stuff that I have learned from branching out into the big, bad world by myself for the first time. Some days I wonder, 'why the fuck did I move to the other side of the world to try this?' But I know, one day, I'm sure I'm going to look back on this and realise, it was totally worth it, whether I get a job or not. 

To those who are my age, who haven't quite had the confidence to move out of their comfort zones yet- do it. It's highly scary, and hard and somewhat intimidating, and yes, you WILL make mistakes. But honestly, its worth every other moment of positiveness. Already I feel I am a stronger, more independant person, even when every other day I have a brief moment of sadness that my family is on the other side of the world (FYI: Homesickness is a bitch). For those of you who have done this before, and warned me it was going to be hard, you were right. This is hard. lol.

And for all you British friends.... anyone have any jobs available around Stoke on Trent? I'll work for minimum wage? XD haha.

Back to EVE for the closing moment, as I'm sure most of you were hoping happened a lot sooner, but to all the UK members out there.... get your ass to Nottingham on the 13th of September. :P I wanna meet as many of you nerds as I can while I'm here, and as I have booked my hotel already, I will most definately be making my presence known on the Friday (the 12th). If anyone else plans on going early, let me know and lets catch up! (Though I am intending to visit Nottingham Castle on arrival :P)

Let's bring the awesome weekend on! :D

Cheers guys! :) And hopefully I can talk your ear off more often now :P

P.S. If anyone actually just read all that..... you're a champion and deserve a medal. XD 

(A picture my mum sent me at a time I was feeling particularly down, and is now my wallpaper)

So.. I'm Alive.. and MOVING!

So.... Hi.

I'm still alive :P

And.... guess what?

I'm MOVING! By myself... across the world... to work... in THE UNITED KINGDOM! Most likely Southern England somewhere. YAY! Closer to the sever!!! xD And for AT LEAST 4 months (but I'm not sure EXACTLY how long...)

I enter the country on the 24th of June in Manchester, and will probably chill with my family for a bit, then settle down wherever I get work (most of the jobs are in and around London).

Oh... and I'll be working in a pub :P Hehe.

I'm planning on going to Nashh's VETO meet on September 13th in Nottingham (I'd dead set on making it :P), so any of you who wanna meet me should totally show up and x up here: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=336343 :P I'd like to meet people who read my crap XD haha.

Either way, hopefully I'm gonna be able to meet and talk to more of you and get a active in the community as I can. :D

Can't wait! I'm nervoucited :P (nervous/excited) :P

BRING ON THE WORLD!!!

P.S. Will actually write about EVE pretty soon... XD Eventually. When I get on top of my uni assignments :P

My Time Capsule Message :)

Here is what I submitted for the possible viewing of future EVE players. :) (And yes, most of mine is a very... condensed blog post. But whatever :P)

"Congratulations on remembering how to work a laptop! :P

Hi future EVE players! I am Jessi, otherwise known as Naughty Cargo, and I have a blog. Here, is my message and story to you.

EVE now: We saw, just last month, the biggest battle in EVE history (so far). B-R5. If you guys don't know what that is, we failed our generations to come. Plex is currently at 670ISK in outlying regions, which is crazy astronomical prices, and they are only going up. The second New Eden Open is currently underway (we find out tomorrow who wins).

Also, if people are not talking like this about fitting up ships...
Diziet Thomas > 2 lse 2 invul med cap booster mwd nos 3 med nuets sm nuet cdfe egress port rcu pd
...you're doing it wrong.
May EVE always be a place full of acronyms that nobody understands.

Anyways… here we go :)

In EVE, all that's relevant... is whatever happens in EVE.

It seems such a simple concept, and one that makes sense if you look at it and take it as face value. However, add the social element, the part I really love of this game, and suddenly, there's lots of grey areas.

I sit in comms, yes with the name 'Naughty Cargo', but I am me- I am Jess. I am sitting on comms as the 21 year old from Australia, not the dastardly, ruthless space pirate. But I am 'Naughty' and am referred to as such- NC, Cargo. whatever anyone uses, they are addressing me as the in-game pirate.

I am a good person. I don't go out into the street and shoot people in the face. I don't steal people's cars and crash them into a wall. Naughty Cargo, that bad space pirate, goes into space and shoots people in the face. She steals people's ships, and then destroys them in some sort of glorious battle. Naughty Cargo bumps people off gates and shoot them just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naughty Cargo is part of a big, bad, blobby alliance.

Sitting in comms as me only does so much good when Naughty's alliance is causing trouble with the people that I am sitting with.

Listening to a fleet get blobbed by my alliance while I was sitting on their comms, 10 minutes after I logged in- I froze. What do you do when suddenly, the thing you have been teased about, the thing that was joked about- being a 'spai'- becomes a crazy possibility in reality? Do I stay, do I go? Do I laugh, do I cry, do I rage? Do I just go with it and act like nothing happened? I choked, mumbled a bit, and left.

I tried to ignore the sudden rift in the line I had been walking- the line I didn't even realise I was walking on until I crossed it. The line between EVE the game, and Jessi's real life- my 'friendships' with other real people, not the characters they play in game.

The two aspects of me don't work together anymore. In game and out of game don't align.

And you know what? I don't think I can ever go back. Now that line has been crossed, I can't ever rebuild whatever I had going in the first place.

I now have an alliance name of which I am part that labels me as a certain way. And you know what, I like them. Yes, I'm still not everyone's cup of tea, and never will be. But for now, Shadow Cartel is Naughty Cargo's home.

Jessi's family, are those people who I care for, in and out of game, those that I see as friends, who I feel I know maybe better than others, or vice versa. I will ALWAYS care for my EVE family- for the people behind the characters. Like any family, we have our disputes, we have arguments and fights, we have people that don't ever get along.

I am not a bad person. I am not a liar. I am not a 'spai'. I know that, and in the end, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks- or says. I am who I am, I know who I am, and I know what I do.

In EVE, all that's relevant... is whatever happens IN EVE.

I'm going to adopt this rule. It's going to be in my bio, right at the top.
I am Naughty Cargo AND I am Jessica Joy Owen. I am a member of Shadow Cartel, and I am a member of the Molden Heath community. I am an ex black jacket, and I am a space pirate.”
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“The risk of having your day ruined by other people is the cornerstone with which EVE was built" -CCP Solomon. If you're playing eve in 25 years and they've gone Pandas, remind them why Eve was once great.
-The dude who gave her the plex to submit this message.

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An additional message from a friend-

A wise fleet commander once told me: "Intel is what makes an alliance great." I was freshly hired to the job of so-called "Royal Spymaster". My credentials? Six months playing EVE.

EVE is unusual. It is a persistent MMO world in which players can bring in relevant "real life" skills and that gives them an edge of a kind over other players. But what makes it truly unique is that the world promotes innovation, adaptation and a state of paranoia found nowhere else.

'Only the unknown frightens man. Once a man has faced the unknown, that terror becomes the known.'

I imagine twenty five years after I have written this message, the situation will be no different; irrespective of whether battles continue to be fought in New Eden. Define the undefined and challenge that infinite to become finite.

EVE is a journey of mastery pitted against Fortuna.

- Ezek Price

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And, to finish... "FLY DRUNK, FLY RIFTERS!" :P

(We'll see how it goes down. XD)

In Game... Out of Game...

(Authors note: I do not see myself as two people. Naughty Cargo and Jessi are just ways of illustrating in-game me and out-of-game me. I'm crazy, sure, but not that much. Yet :P)

I was having a discussion with brandobas tonight (<3 brando), and he said something that really made me think- as lots of things do, relating to this game.

We were talking about all the events that have transpired basically since I sent my app in to 7-2, up to now, particularly the recent circumstances with my new alliance and the (somewhat) unfortunate events that have transpired from them. We kept talking, about the alliance as a whole, that is, Shadow Cartel and who they are; who they are viewed to be.

What made me think specifically was when I said 'they're not all bad (as people), most of them are good, if not occasionally annoying' (:P love you guys hehe), and Brando came back with something about how, no matter who they are out of game, makes absolutely no difference in game. You're not going to NOT shoot someone in an opposing fleet JUST because they're a nice person in real life.

In EVE, all that's relevant... is whatever happens in EVE. 

It seems such a simple concept, and one that makes sense if you look at it and take it as face value. However, add the social element, the part I really love of this game, and suddenly, there's lots of grey areas. We all sit on comms as our CHARACTER names, we interact on forums with API's tied into the game- no custom avatars or up-loadable pictures, we use our character portraits instead. Corp TICKERS and signs and logos are everywhere.

I sit in comms, yes with the name 'Naughty Cargo', but I am me- I am Jess. I am sitting on comms as the 21 year old from Australia, not the dastardly, ruthless space pirate. But I am 'Naughty' and am referred to as such- NC, Cargo... whatever anyone uses, they are addressing me as the in-game pirate. My TICKER is right there next to my name [AU-NZ], a clear indicator of Naughty's stance on things. And, and probably the most important point, not everyone sees this game like I do. Some people don't care for the out of game people. Some, not even the ones in their own corp. Others, ONLY the people they have in their corp matter and no one else.

I am a nice person. I am a good person. I often get told that I'm not, and sometimes, I find it hard to remember I am actually a positive on life, not a negative. I don't go out into the street and shoot people in the face. I don't steal people's cars and crash them into a wall. I don't bump people out of the way on the street. Naughty Cargo, that bad space pirate, goes into space and shoots people in the face. She steals people's ships, and then destroys them in some sort of glorious battle. Naughty Cargo bumps people off gates and shoot them just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naughty Cargo is part of a big, bad, blobby alliance, and therefore... must be like such an entity, as much to be a part of.

Sitting in comms as Jessi, sitting in forums and chats as Jessi... only does so much good when Naughty's alliance is causing trouble with the people that Jessi is sitting with. To the point that 'I MUST have had a part in it, because its far too convenient to be a coincidence'. And you know what, I don't help myself about it either. What do you say when something happens you had absolutely no control over and suddenly, everyone is looking at you, interrogating you as to why you just did 'that', whatever that is? What do you say?

Listening to a 7-2 fleet get blobbed while I was sitting on their comms, 10 minutes after I logged in... I froze. I hadn't bothered to log into SC comms, because they were flying something I couldn't. I decided to ignore it, being in a good mood, and hopped on 7-2 comms instead, as I was wont to do when feeling chatty. 10 minutes in, and my brain froze. What do you do when suddenly, the thing you have been teased about, the thing that was joked about- being a 'spai'- becomes a crazy possibility in reality? I didn't help myself freaking out. Do I stay, do I go? Do I laugh, do I cry, do I rage? Do I just go with it and act like nothing happened? I choked, mumbled a bit, and left.

I didn't think about it again, until I got a few comments thrown at me the next day in a chat I had always sat in. And they were no longer joking. No longer laughing, or being silly. It escalated, got rather nasty, before we moved on, me trying to ignore the sudden rift in the line I had been walking- the line I didn't even realise I was walking on until I crossed it. The line between EVE the game, and Jessi's real life- my 'friendships' with other real people, not the characters they play in game.

The two aspects of me don't work together anymore. In game and out of game don't align. Yes I can post random stuff on the forums, share internet goodness, talk on posts and in chats... but I can't just 'hang out' on comms like I used to. I can't ask random questions like 'Oh, where are you guys at?', stuff I asked before PURELY because I was curious and wanted to know if I could catch up. I can't ask 'Oh, what are you flying?' I can't just sit in while a fleet is going on and listen. We saw where THAT got me... lol.

And you know what? I don't think I can ever go back. Now that line has been crossed, I can't ever rebuild whatever random line I had going in the first place.

I am under no illusions. I am not getting into 7-2. Ever.

I am not like most of the people in the corp, if any. I am not 'close' so to speak with many of the members, and you know what? I know I annoy people. I acknowledge bouncy, young, loud, happy, irrelevant Jessi is not everyone's cup of tea. Particular those who make the decisions. And its not because they are bad people, nor me. It just means we wouldn't ever hang out- would never be compatible in this game. We play completely different types of games.

And THAT is what matters- not the people, not the personalities (though they are important), but the type of game that is played. The game within the game. The game of alliances and corps and blues and fleets and fights. The fights we all enjoy and crave and love and thrive on.

I now have an alliance name of which I am part, that labels me as a certain way. And you know what, I like them. Most, if not all, are people I get along with. Yes, I'm still not everyone's cup of tea, and never will be. But overall, its very nice. Chilling just sitting in comms or chatting in chat channels... talking on the forums. For now, Shadow Cartel is Naughty Cargo's home, Naughty Cargo's family.

Jessi's family, are those people who I care for, in and out of game, those that I see as friends, who I feel I know maybe better than others, or vice versa. I will ALWAYS care for my Molden Heath family- for the people behind the characters. Like any family, we have our disputes, we have arguments and fights, we have people that don't ever get along or don't like other people. People we don't know as well as others cause they're always away, etc. But think back to my Christmas video- my present to those who I care about. THAT was Jessi, that was not Naughty Cargo.

I am not a bad person. I am not a liar. I am not a 'spai'. No matter what people think or say, me, Jess, as a person, am not a blobby spai. I know that, and in the end, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks- or says. I am who I am, I know who I am, and I know what I do.

In EVE, all that's relevant... is whatever happens IN EVE. 

I'm going to adopt this rule. It's going to be in my bio, right at the top.

I am Naughty Cargo AND I am Jessica Joy Owen. I am a member of Shadow Cartel, and I am a member of the Molden Heath community. I am an ex black jacket, and I am a space pirate.

And much love to all the people behind these EVE characters, all those corps and alliances and organisations- R1DER, ThC, 7-2, Shadow Cartel, etc. No matter what happens in EVE, I have myself, and I have you guys, and that is awesome. Mostly :P When you're all not being dicks ;) :P hehe.

EVE- A Game Like No Other

(This has been written after about 2 weeks, so when I say earlier this week, its not true. XD Just go with it. haha)

I know I sorta did a post on this before, more specifically about the community, but I had an experience earlier this week, combined with CCP's newest announcement, that made me think about this game in a somewhat objective way- what makes it amazing? Why do I seem to not be able to pull myself away from New Eden? And why are so many people asking me about this game because a whole bunch of random players lost $300,000 worth of game content?

We had an AU timezone fleet earlier this week. Ohm's just pulled it together out of the hat, and we grabbed whatever we had, basically, a bunch of Aussies from various corps, and we flew out, heading towards Tama. I was in my trusty jag, because you know.. tackle is always handy. We'd shot at a few things here and there, and had one really good, totally random fight which led to the death of a few random ships (http://shadowcartel.com/kb/?a=kill_related&kll_id=93211 - although I coulda sworn we killed more things than that...)

Anyways, so we were going along, when we docked up for a dinner/food break. A few of the guys kept scouting/looking around, and one of them spotted a Thanny sitting in space one system over. I can't remember what it was doing, but it was russian, so who knows. One of the guys kept an eye on it until everyone had come back, and in the meantime, we talked about the plan. With me being tackle in my jag, I was nominated at the tackle. Strict orders- stay at about 20km, keep moving so you don't get caught by drones, and just hold point. By the time all the people had returned, I had that feeling in my stomach- the butterflies.

I, as a fairly new player still, get the butterflies and 'shakes' when I'm in or about to enter a really good fight. And while so many things still scare me in this game, there's one thing I don't mind, and that's the shakes themselves. I have never, EVER found a game that gives me as much of an adrenalin rush as EVE provides. It both amps me up, and terrifies me, and I love it. LOVE IT LOVE IT! It makes me want to kill more stuff.

Anyways, I could literally feel my mouse shaking as the call was made for me to jump, the fleet on the gate, in warp to Thanny. No pressure. Unfortunately, the warp was a long one, 50+ AU, and the lucky bastard was aligned and warping as I landed. *sadface*. Problem is, that adrenalin rush was still there!!! We didn't end up killing anything else on the way home, but did end up getting a few nice kills at the usual gate camp :P

What made me think of sharing this was the adrenalin rush. Those butterflies that I was feeling, are just overwhelming. There is no game like this. This is more apparent in the individual feelings and experiences this game creates. The publicity that has gone around, simply the amount of people checking out this game... its amazing! And everyone has their own way of doing it. So many different people and play styles, and all in one server. ONE SERVER! xD How many MMO's do that?

And how many MMO's have a sculpture in real life that their main characters name is going to be on? CCP announced the building of a big statue around the bay in Reykavik, for ANYONE to see, with all the main characters in EVE on it that are active as on March 1st. That's a lot of characters! XD But its gonna be there.

There's just so many things that make this game different and great, and I hope I am playing it still, for years to come. I want to be a bitter 'not-so-bitter' vet :P XD

Naughty Cargo- The Stats So Far!

So, I was sitting on comms, listening to some of the 7-2 boys relating to the rest of the group their various statistics of all time. Like, ship most used, corp most had kills in, etc... (that's a really awkward way of typing that, but I can't really think of a better one XD).

Anyways, so me being the intrepid sheep that I am, decided to follow suit, log on to zKillboard and look at my probably botched stats.

(Take note of my random bookmarks toolbar. XD A side note: every morning when I get up, I make my way across that bar in a quick fashion, checking each one very quickly, before shutting it again and getting the day started.)

Anyways, as you can see here, zKillboard tells me I have 649 kills. Hmmm... I don't know. I'm sure I should have more, but I don't know. Maybe I am overestimating my killing skills. Haha. Also, I like the idea of only having lost 190 ships, but again, not sure if that's accurate. Let's go with it! XD I don't know what being ranked 7,492 means, but its under 10,000, so I'll be right. haha.

What I really love, and what really shows where I belong, is my top corps. As you can see, my top corp was my dear family, The Humbleless Crew. Led in part by the awesome Diziet Thomas and comprising of the strangest, and sometimes angriest (ren), but sweetest people in the whole of New Eden. I started out in R1FTA, but these guys have really taught me more in the grand scheme of things, though I will always hold a special place in my heart for R1FTA, don't get me wrong! And, as is clearly shown here, they easily make up AT LEAST half of my total kills. Will always love these guys. <3

That stat makes me very happy either way. I'd love if we could go back to the days that we had awesome fleets and it was all a tad more relaxed and things, but I know the guys are happy with 7-2, and I know that one day... in like, 2 years XD I'll be enjoying my time with them too. Until then, I am finding Shadow very, very cool. A great learning experience with great people. :)

I also find it very interesting that I became part of ThC JUST before they left Capital Punishment. 3 kills while we were still under their reign. Very interesting happenstance ^.^

And now, for the MORE interesting bit! :D

I am rather proud of the fact that my top ship is the Jag. My beautiful, beautiful jag. Also the fact that out of the weapons that AREN'T ships, my top is a long point- because I'm an awesome tackle. :P I find it interesting my second is a Thrasher though. I'm thinking I might have ganked a little too often in the early R1DER days. ;) I'm such a tackle, with Letto as 4th. I really do wanna try something else, but this really shows my love of the pointing. ^.^

 I also find amusing my top systems. Bosena has been my home since R1FTER, and it shows. I'm quite proud of what I have achieved in my awesome Molden Heath. ^.^ Look at all those MH systems. So happy! :D Funny that Jov is second though. I think the R1FTER guys and my corp are rubbing off on me with the Essence. XD Also Teo as 4- back to that ganking again. XD At least I can pronounce all these systems.

I still think some things are missing in all of these stats, but I'm not too fussed. Is fun to look at either way. Let's see if over the next few months things change. In about an hour I can fly Gallante Battleships- well... sit in them anyway. About 2 weeks after that and I can fly a good fit on one. I'm 12 days off using a fairly decent Min Heavy Assault Cruiser, and I'm working on my gunnery skills pretty heavily atm. My fitting skills need a tad more work, but hey, it all comes with time. Time time time. :)

On a side note, I'm poor. :P Its a strange alliance to be in, when you're poor, but whatevs. Snow showed me an asset tool last night, and I made an API, and plugged in my details. Here's the result....

Anyone want an Odin Synthetic Eye is worst comes to worst? XD I think I might keep it though unless I'm really desperate, cause Lho gave it to me for Christmas :) Ish special. ^.^ Either way, gonna start working on ISK gain. Who knows how it'll go....?

There's my EVE post for now. My parents get back from the other side of the country tonight, so I get to be less busy. Keeping ones siblings alive takes work! Particularly when they eat so much crap! In any case, I've survived the week, so we'll see. :P Uni starts on the 10th of March, so after that, I'll try and post when I can- not that I'm the most reliable either way! XD hahaha I have a few posts in draft, so incoming! XD I went to B-R5 last night in a shuttle. :P Got all the way, despite the naysayers, but whatevers. XD I had fun XD Blog post in progress!

Check out the post before this for a little funny. ;)

HAHAHAHAHAHA Says something... :P

So.. quick note, because this amused me, and I was literally laughing myself to tears, but I hopped onto eBay out of boredom, and for curiosities sake, typed in EVE Online.

As you can see, all fairly boring... something bout plex, some stickers... scroll down...

People like this ISK making book thing. Might check it out if I'm ever interested in ISK making.. would be outdated though...

Keep scrolling...

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BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'The Unspoken Rules of Online Dating for Men' AND (this is my favourite :P) 'Virtual Foreplay: Making Your Online Realationship in Real Life a Success'.

Followed by another ISK making book.

Co-incidence? I don't think so. :P If it is, I find it incredibly amusing. XD

AUTHORS NOTE: I AM working on some new blog posts, I have 3 in draft stages, 2 of them EVE Online related. Plus another couple of ideas. One will determinately be on the BIG battle/newbies type thing, another will be on me being bored and going down to B-R5 at 3am this morning, and another will be on ISK (and how poor I am after using an asset calc tool :P)