So, I love the world of Eve. I absolutely adore the idea of surviving and finding success in a game against all odds. And in Eve the odds are ALL against you.
In Eve you fly ships. In Eve someone can blow your ship up at any time. Player versus player combat is deeply ingrained into Eve. There's no hiding from it and some might argue its the only reason to login time and time again.
When I first began playing Eve I mined space rocks. I mined a lot. Mining in Eve isn't a very engaging or thrilling activity. Its just you, your ship and some rocks to shoot with lasers. But it does represent a consistent and steady cash flow. I made a small fortune mining in the safest systems in the game. And I avoided PVP at every turn. I was slowly learning more about the game and how to keep myself safe and surviving by running and avoiding conflict at all costs. I learned how to identify predators (the other players looking to blow you up) early and scamper away quickly to a safe point.
Eventually I felt confident enough in my understanding of Eve to join Kite Co. The idea of flying with other duders, the combination of Giant Bomb & Eve, really appealed to me. Despite the fact that it meant moving to null sec (the most dangerous type of space in Eve).
So I joined Kite Co, moved to null sec and I continued to mine. I continued avoiding conflict at all costs. I continued running from every enemy I saw. I lost a few ships here and there. But I still was able to survive and pad my in-game bank account.
Eventually mining got tedious and old. The time finally came where I could no longer punch another rock and I thought about quitting Eve. But instead of doing that I decided to push out of my comfort zone and actually take part in this PVP that I found so darn intimidating. On a whim one night many months ago I joined an alliance fleet that was undocking shortly to go out on a roam through our region of space. I joined this fleet as a logistics pilot. Logistics ships in eve are tailored towards replenishing the shield or armor of other pilots. Basically, I was a healer in this small gang. And I had an absolute blast. The fights were very intense, the explosions were real, the fleet leaders were calling out enemy locations and primary targets, there was shouting and yelling and cheering. It was amazing! I immediately regretted not taking apart in this aspect of the game sooner. I was hooked.
Fast forward to the weekend before last when this kill happened, https://zkillboard.com/kill/46574503/. Let me walk you through whats going on here. Eve records and publishes a lot of data about every player kill that happens in game via its api. Zkillboard is a site that scraps this data and presents it very nicely.
Here's a break down of the most important points:
Guess who's listed as doing top damage on this capital class carrier kill? Yeah that's right it was me! This once passive and ex-miner of space rocks just scored top damage on a big kill. Of course I didn't do this alone. I was in a fleet of over 200 other players who were also engaged in this same fight. It took that many individual players (including several members of Kite Co.) coordinating together to take this carrier down, another one down, and the support ships sent to save them. I was absolutely thrilled to be a part of this experience. I'm itching this very moment to get back in the game, fleet-up, and go out hunting.
p.s. Getting top damage on this kill was a happy accident. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. But I'm proud of this small accomplishment none the less.
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