Nostalgia

I was clicking around some other EVE blogs and came across a mention of “ELITE” over at Astrals blog. If you know me in game (all 3 of you) then you might clue in that my avatar SonofBraben was named after David Braben co-Writer of Elite.

Some 25 years later I still cannot look at hexagons without spinning them and trying to align myself to a rectangle in the middle. The Blue Danube Waltz gives me chills and joy of an easier life. Every time I warp or jump a gate I expect Thargoid traps to witch space to happen. I find myself looking for a Krait to shoot and scoop. Ah the joys of my days with a commodore 64 and Elite.

Just think of that a moment. Back then on 8-bit systems. We could engage in space combat, trade and mine(which was JUST as boring back then). We had 3D ships (wire frame at first then polygon) with upgrades for purchase. Jump drives, galaxy warp drives, cargo holds, fuel scoops, and automatic docking computers (Aura’s grandmother?). This was all in the early 80’s when I’d wager a good chunk of the EVE player base was not yet born (or at least just breaking double digits for age). There was no internet back then. People still wrote things called letters not emails. Digital was a watch type not a camera. We had Compact Disks (CD’s) for music if you were really well off. So before we had any of today’s standard technology (IPODs, Internet, Cell phones, 64bit PCs, Gaming consoles in HD, etc) there was a game that gave life to every space ship wanting fantasy a kid (teen or adult) could have.

Now in my mid 30’s I find EVE is my “Elite” where I can be a computer spaceship pilot. Pirates have replaced the Thargoids. There is no more manually docking to hexagons. MP3’s have replaced the Blue Danube. The cobra Mk III has been replaced with a TON of gorgeous spaceships. Most of all I find the fact that I am playing with and against real people the biggest step forward. However the open concept of elite and Frontier in the vast openness of space as a play field bear similar fond memories in EVE. If only Braben and Bell had networking in 1984. One can only imagine the multi player games we would have today. Now there would be something to WoW about… ;)

And that brings me to my closing thoughts. Frontier Developments and David Braben have been rumored to be working on Elite 4 for 5+ years now. The wiki states that once they release The Outsider Elite 4 is next. Knowing that it took over a decade between Elite and frontier I can only imagine that it will be quite some time more before this comes to light. However I do wonder how many of us old school computer spaceship pilots will be giddy the day Elite 4 as a MMPORP hits the stands. I wonder how EVE will evolve to meet the challenge of such an offering from the father of space combat.

We shall see…

For now I have many MANY more things to do in EVE.

See you around the gates and belts (warp bubbles and camps).

Cheers

EVE SOB